Cork has witnessed a 63% increase in employment in tech companies in the last 5 years, with 13,000 workers currently employed in 61 IDA support companies in the region.

How Cork has established itself as an Tech hub, was discussed at the it@Cork 21st AGM which was held last night at the River Lee Hotel in Cork.

It@cork is a not-for-profit independent business organisation, representing the interests of the IT industry in Cork and throughout the country.

The organisation says the pace of growth and opportunity for development is strong. Cork has over 1 million square foot of office space coming on stream in the next 12 months, with office rentals averaging half of Dublin.
 
The research released last night shows that Cork has a 20% lower cost of living than in Dublin and 50% of the population is aged under 35. Furthermore, Cork is home to 35,000 students in institutes like CIT and UCC.
 
Speaking last night, Chair of it@Cork, Caroline O’Driscoll said, "It is without doubt that Cork’s ICT sector is playing a key role in the economic engine of this city and county. Eighty six percent of our member companies are planning employment growth in the next 3 years, and a remarkable 22% of those companies are planning job growth of at least 25%. Entrepreneurship is pivotal to the successes we are currently witnessing in the with 59 Enterprise Ireland supported companies located here."
 
She added, "There is still a lot of work to be done. Our members have voiced concerns to us over the global STEM but this is an opportunity for us too; Ireland has the highest amount of STEM graduates in Europe which puts us at a competitive advantage. We must continue to focus on our education system to future proof the Tech sector. Initiatives like Cork-born Coder Dojo and I Wish  show the power of the community to help our young people gain the STEM skills they will need for the jobs of tomorrow." 
 
Source: www.businessworld.ie