Skip to content

Northern Ireland labour market continues to improve post-pandemic

Getty/Morsa Images Business colleagues sitting at conference table seen through glass wall.Getty/Morsa Images
Company payrolls have now increased for 12 months in a row with a record 779,000 people in employment

The Northern Ireland labour market continued its post-pandemic recovery in May, official figures suggests.

Company payrolls have now increased for 12 months in a row with a record 779,000 people in employment.

It comes as pharmaceutical company Almac announced a £20m investment at Craigavon HQ to accommodate more staff.

It is in the middle of a global recruitment campaign to add 1,800 people to the business, bringing employment to more than 8,000.

The NI Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) said there had been a statistically significant increase in the employment rate in the quarter from February to April.

It is the measurement of the percentage of working age people in a job. It increased by 1.5 percentage points to 70.2%.

Another job market indicator, the quarterly employment survey (QES), suggests that the private sector has now replaced all the jobs it lost during the pandemic.

The QES measurement is a survey of about 6,000 companies, covering all employers with 25 or more employees and all public sector employers.

Quarterly increases in employee jobs were seen within the services (+9,050 jobs), manufacturing (+2,370 jobs), and other industries (+140 jobs) sectors to March 2022. The construction industry reported a decrease over the quarter (-90 jobs).

Meanwhile, Almac says its new "business campus" in Craigavon will include a major expansion of canteen facilities and a "wellness centre."

Subject to planning approval the first phase of that development is expected to be completed in early 2023.

It comes as Almac reported a strong set of annual results: in the year ending 30 September 2021, the business saw a £58m (8.6%) rise in turnover from £677m to £735m.

Almac
Almac's global headquarters is in Craigavon, County Armagh

Pre-tax profits were £81m, up from £64m (27% increase) for the previous year.

A major part of Almac's business is conducting tests and manufacturing for big global firms as well as developing its own drugs.

It has marketed itself as having "the Almac advantage" under the NI Protocol because all all manufacturing and associated certification at its NI operations continues to be recognised by both the UK and European regulatory agencies.