Why is the job situation so poor in Sligo?

Xiney

As a warning, try to reply to this thread in an analytical, additive way rather than off hand remarks about. Let's have a real discussion here

NO derogatory comments against ANY groups will be tolerated whatsoever. One of your lovely moderators is a foreigner herself (that would be me).


On to the business!



Sligo is, I think, well placed to have jobs, or it should be. It has a well educated work force sourced from the IT especially. It already has some multinationals in town, so nobody would have to pioneer it at this stage. And lastly, I think the population here is crying out for some high quality jobs and companies would get a great response if they moved in.

And yes, I realise that the job situation isn't great all over Ireland at the moment, but it was never really great in Sligo to begin with, was it? Where are the jobs that use the degrees the IT students are earning? Where are the jobs that pay more than minimum wage, or at least don't require you to serve muffins from behind a counter?

What should Sligo politicians be doing? And with the removal of Cancer services from Sligo General, is there any hope at all?

kmart6

Well I just saw a thread showing up on the main page about Argos being turned down again! That can't be helping the situation!

brianthebard

the mnc's you refer to are mostly in the primary sector no?the business park is quite old at this stage and in need of renovation imo.sligo is also at the end of the supply chain,rather than a step on the way like longford for example.IT qualification-lolz.also theres been feck all non property investment imo. does that help? Posted via Mobile Device

gustavo

Xiney wrote: »

Where are the jobs that use the degrees the IT students are earning?

I got a degree in Web Development 2 years ago from the IT and no one from my class is currently working in Sligo , There was nothing for us really in Sligo at all after graduation

TequilaMockingBird

Its simply too far from an airport. Dublin, Shannon and Cork have excellent transport systems, so the North West will always lose out to those areas for the majority of foreign corporations.


I wouldn't recommend starting your own business either. There are no supports available, but mountains of obstacles. *cough*

DenMan

It really is out on it's own, Sligo, isn't it. It definitely needs good investment. Why don't some of the cinemas like UGC and UCI come here? They could easily set up in the retail park. When you think about it that is really where Sligo Rovers should be based. When I was living in Bolton, the Wanderers (Reebok Stadium) were out beside a huge retail park. All the same companies were out there, PC World, Scan, Carpet Right, KFC, Pizza Hut, Curry's, Homebase, Tile Market, Reid etc. They were all there, and on match day was a huge day out for fans. Same should be done here.

Sligo Rovers have the support and it would be great for both home and away fans. A great day out, and plenty of local employment. Problem solved. Also plenty of car parking avilable. Should be seriously looked at.

Xiney

More shops aren't really the answer though.

If everyone's working in shops, who's making the money to buy the merchandise?

I suppose what I meant to ask was, why is the career situation so poor here?

Mrs.T

sueme wrote: »

Its simply too far from an airport. Dublin, Shannon and Cork have excellent transport systems, so the North West will always lose out to those areas for the majority of foreign corporations.


I wouldn't recommend starting your own business either. There are no supports available, but mountains of obstacles. *cough*

mr tulip here, my firefox is not working so i use this for a mo.

My experience is different, I had lots of support with starting up my business. You get a mentor for free, courses for 30 euro, enterprise allowance, there is a lot off support even from the revenue. Depending on the type of business you start there are grants.

Gillie

Tradionally we were a "factory" town where they're was great employment with Abbott, Snea, Sahean media, Bruss and maybe a few others.
Abbott is the only one left outta that list.

Now the problem is that we were very slow to embrace the retail side of things. We were probably the last town of this size to get a decent shopping centre. (Before the Quayside opened 3 or 4 years ago there was no escalator in Sligo).

Now were have the Quayside, Johnson's Court* and Carraroe Retail Park.
(*Johnson's court involved a lot of shops relocating from the town centre to the new building!)

In the other thread "Sligo say NO to Argos again" we see that someone has been granted permission for 4 units up at Carraroe.

Now why the f*ck should anyone be granted this when there are 3 or 4 perfectly good units in Cleveragh Retail Park! It's lunacy!!!
The Chambers job should be ensuring that Units are filled promptly. Why? If ANY industry comes to a town and sees empty Units - why should they decide to set up shop!

Moving on to what we need. Hmm. Hard to see a quick fix.

I do not believe that the infastructure in Sligo is inadequate.
It can be improved certainly but it's a gradual process.
We have a rail service that runs both ways to Dublin 8 times a day!
Flights from Dublin & Manchester to here.
Buses (where the schedule needs improving)
Plenty of greenfield sites ala Finisklin, Cleveragh and Oakfield* where big business can set up (Once they get planning!:rolleyes:)
(*There is an industrial estate planned for Oakfield!)

All in all. Sligo is ready for anyone to come along IMHO! Just Bring It!

JoeyJJ

I had a job in IT in Sligo for a few years but had to move on to progress my career and there was no other choice but move to Dublin and now having learnt alot in Dublin there is nothing in the west/northwest of ireland to move back to. There are some roles but either very specialised and advertised a long time or the money isn't good enough.

starbelgrade

I'll stick to the 2 areas of employment I know about... construction & pharmaceutical.

As everyone knows, the banks, having allowed everyone to run up massive debts over the past few years, has now pulled the plug on that. The effect of that being that people are unwilling or unable now to invest in properties & developers are finding it very hard to get loans from the banks to finance their developments. And even if they DO have money, they're holding back on putting it into properties as the market is so slow. It's a complete catch 22 situation that's hit Sligo a lot harder than most places. I've never seen things as slow here in the last 4 years. There have been & will be more job losses in the construction industry here (including the professional services like architecture, engineering etc). Meanwhile, there's still vacant jobs in construction in Mayo & Galway.

Abbott is the opposite - there are simply not enough skilled workers in Sligo for their plant. They're constantly advertising vacancies & just can't get the staff. And companies who can't source labour locally often relocate, which would be disasterous for the town if that happened.

That's my tuppence worth.

Gillie

starbelgrade wrote: »

Abbott is the opposite - there are simply not enough skilled workers in Sligo for their plant. They're constantly advertising vacancies & just can't get the staff. And companies who can't source labour locally often relocate, which would be disasterous for the town if that happened.

If abbott left Sligo i'm afraid the writing would be on the wall!

DenMan

I heard a rumor floating about that Bruss could be closing down next year. That is not good news as they have been here for quite a lot time. Also if Abbot's current pharmaceutical drug on the market does not sell well for them they are considering closing down one of their Sligo plants. Not confirmed but it has been mentioned and may be on the cards. Lets hope not.

Gillie

DenMan wrote: »

I heard a rumor floating about that Bruss could be closing down next year. That is not good news as they have been here for quite a lot time. Also if Abbot's current pharmaceutical drug on the market does not sell well for them they are considering closing down one of their Sligo plants. Not confirmed but it has been mentioned and may be on the cards. Lets hope not.

It is. There is a huge development planned for that site.

Not sure if Bruss are moving to another premises though.

starbelgrade

Gillie wrote: »

It is. There is a huge development planned for that site.

Not sure if Bruss are moving to another premises though.

I do, but I can't say.

Gillie

starbelgrade wrote: »

I do, but I can't say.

WTF?

Xiney

starbelgrade wrote: »

Abbott is the opposite - there are simply not enough skilled workers in Sligo for their plant. They're constantly advertising vacancies & just can't get the staff. And companies who can't source labour locally often relocate, which would be disasterous for the town if that happened.

Abbott's aren't getting the staff because they're not recognizing the qualified people they've got available.

I applied for a **** load of graduate positions and I never even got a call back. I've a Biology degree from one of Canada's most prestigious Universities, it's internationally renowned as a leader in Biology and Medical research.

Were I in Canada, I'd be getting at least 30 grand a year working with this degree straight out of college. Probably closer to 32, tbh.

Here, Abbott's didn't give me the time of day and I'm working for minimum wage not using my degree at all.

DenMan

That is a very trick situation to me. Is there a revolving door mentality in Abbott's or is it as you said, the qualification. Maybe many people come in and out of there on a very large basis. Surely people with the necessary qualifications (such as yourself Xiney) should be encouraged to work for them, i.e headhunted.

The writing may be on the wall for them if the trend continues. Missing up on the qualified canditates.

Xiney

I figure it's their loss, really. Because screw modesty, I'm brilliant

brianthebard

i'd say abbotts are still a bit all over the shop after last years takeover.anyways i'm going to galway for an ma in september and when i finish there'll be nothing for me in sligo apart from teaching.i think you were overly optimistic in your first post op!Posted via Mobile Device

Gillie

brianthebard wrote: »

i'd say abbotts are still a bit all over the shop after last years takeover.anyways i'm going to galway for an ma in september and when i finish there'll be nothing for me in sligo apart from teaching.i think you were overly optimistic in your first post op!Posted via Mobile Device

Takeover? When? Who?

horsecrap

unemployment benefit is around 190 euro a week. nearly 200 for doing nothing? and you have people slaving away on the mim wage.
not rearly an incentive to work now is it?

TequilaMockingBird

horsecrap wrote: »

unemployment benefit is around 190 euro a week.

+ Rent allowance
+ Medical Card

Gillie

That's it i'm quitting my job!

DenMan

It unbelievable isn't? Rent Allowance, that's something else. When I lived in Malta a person had to be a resident of the country for 3 years before they were entitled to state benefits. I remember overhearing a Scottish person talking about it. In Ireland it is very different.

Culchie

Now we're merging with my rant a couple of weeks ago about spongers/bar stools etc.... won't go there!

I moved from Dublin from a very well paid job, was sick of Dublin and as many of you said, couldn't find a job opportunity that would match my Dublin salary.
Actually, that's not 100% true, the fact is I got to a stage I don't want to work for anyone else, so I never really looked, even though I'd say opportunities would be pretty limited.
Instead, I've set up my own business about 15 months ago, and paid myself my first cheque after approx 11 months.......your mentality completely changes I'm afraid.

I no longer embrace bank holiday weekends as I used to, or tolerate absenteeism from workers, or surf the internet, or join the gang on the fag break.
When I advertise any vacancy I get alot of responses, so obviously it's an employers market at the moment in Sligo, so this means that 'wages' are not very high in comparison to Dublin, as if X graduate looking for a mortgage wants 35k per annum, and Y graduate of same skill/experience living at home with Mammy is happy with 25k per annum, then I'm afraid from an employer point of view the 25k candidate gets the job. The 10k diffference can buy you a new machine/equipment/a years advertising etc... That's not being 'tight' with wages, it's helping me 'build the business' and hopefully expand and create more jobs.

My number one goal each and every month is to have enough business to pay the wages (mine last, if at all). I'm trying to build a business not bleed the business by paying myself a nice fat salary.

Regarding Sligo or indeed any of the province towns in Ireland .... I'd be pretty worried. I think we're in for 5 or 6 years of pretty desperate times.

TequilaMockingBird

Culchie wrote: »

I moved from Dublin from a very well paid job, was sick of Dublin and as many of you said, couldn't find a job opportunity that would match my Dublin salary.
Actually, that's not 100% true, the fact is I got to a stage I don't want to work for anyone else, so I never really looked, even though I'd say opportunities would be pretty limited.
Instead, I've set up my own business about 15 months ago, and paid myself my first cheque after approx 11 months.......your mentality completely changes I'm afraid.

I no longer embrace bank holiday weekends as I used to, or tolerate absenteeism from workers, or surf the internet, or join the gang on the fag break.
When I advertise any vacancy I get alot of responses, so obviously it's an employers market at the moment in Sligo, so this means that 'wages' are not very high in comparison to Dublin, as if X graduate looking for a mortgage wants 35k per annum, and Y graduate of same skill/experience living at home with Mammy is happy with 25k per annum, then I'm afraid from an employer point of view the 25k candidate gets the job. The 10k diffference can buy you a new machine/equipment/a years advertising etc... That's not being 'tight' with wages, it's helping me 'build the business' and hopefully expand and create more jobs.

My number one goal each and every month is to have enough business to pay the wages (mine last, if at all). I'm trying to build a business not bleed the business by paying myself a nice fat salary.

Regarding Sligo or indeed any of the province towns in Ireland .... I'd be pretty worried. I think we're in for 5 or 6 years of pretty desperate times.

The very best of luck with it Culchie. I know how it feels. I lolled at your Bank Holiday reference, its mad how your perception of them changes. You lose a days sales, still have to pay staff a full days wages, aswell as the rent etc. It becomes an outrageous idea! I hated them.

They say if you make through the first two years alive, you've got a fighting chance. I made it to 23 months. You live and learn.

Madge

Xiney wrote: »

Sligo is, I think, well placed to have jobs, or it should be. It has a well educated work force sourced from the IT especially. It already has some multinationals in town, so nobody would have to pioneer it at this stage. And lastly, I think the population here is crying out for some high quality jobs and companies would get a great response if they moved in.

And yes, I realise that the job situation isn't great all over Ireland at the moment, but it was never really great in Sligo to begin with, was it? Where are the jobs that use the degrees the IT students are earning? Where are the jobs that pay more than minimum wage, or at least don't require you to serve muffins from behind a counter?

You said it! The town just doesn't have the pull for the big companies because of reasons others have said like infrastructure, transport etc.
But IMO, the sector that is thriving in the economy in the last few years and has propelled our celtic tiger is the financial services sector and it still is very important in Ireland's growth. But there's no big financial companies or firms in Sligo, only little mickey mouse places that have crusty backward owners who see qualifications as nowt much and only value 20 yrs experience and can't be @rsed training people in. Can you tell I'm speaking from experience?!

Culchie

Madge wrote: »

You said it! The town just doesn't have the pull for the big companies because of reasons others have said like infrastructure, transport etc.
But IMO, the sector that is thriving in the economy in the last few years and has propelled our celtic tiger is the financial services sector and it still is very important in Ireland's growth. But there's no big financial companies or firms in Sligo, only little mickey mouse places that have crusty backward owners who see qualifications as nowt much and only value 20 yrs experience and can't be @rsed training people in. Can you tell I'm speaking from experience?!

The thing is Financial Service sectors shares same knowledge pool/staff/suppliers/customers/information/buildings/cleaning staff etc.... so Sligo is never going to compete with the IFSC/Dublin 4 brigade, non runner straight from the off. Neither can Nenagh, Castlebar, Wexford or Lonford....so it shouldn't even bother trying to hang it's hat on that.

However you are right in one respect, there is a dirth of 20/30 somethings who can take on the crustys on Tax advice/marketing experience/legal advice......but where are they? Surely one of the arts of setting up business is to identify the niche in the first place? The SME sector badly needs some help in this area.

Sligo business is too biased to 'high street retailing' ... too many shops, not enough customers......or tourists to bolster the footfall. Every second shop has a 'beauty salon' above it. These people access low (by comparison) mortgages in time, low value financial products (low rate of take up of pension/investment products/share investing) ....and so little need for 'high quality' financial advice .....so it's a vicious circle.

It all points to the low paid jobs this thread talks about.

If you want a high paid job in Sligo, you need to set yourself up as a 'niche' .... offer something that is different and market yourself as best you can.

DenMan

Hi Madge

Sligo is a developing town in many ways. A lot of good progress has been made over the past five years. However you are right, there is still an awful long way to go. It is a Gateway Town and unfortunately that is the way a lot of people see it. It needs a good investment to compliment the graduates and people with extensive experience wanting to live and work here. Let's hope so!! I'm not from here but will be returning to college in the Sligo IT in Sept. Let's hope for a good next five years...I hope...:)

Madge

Culchie wrote: »

The thing is Financial Service sectors shares same knowledge pool/staff/suppliers/customers/information/buildings/cleaning staff etc.... so Sligo is never going to compete with the IFSC/Dublin 4 brigade, non runner straight from the off. Neither can Nenagh, Castlebar, Wexford or Lonford....so it shouldn't even bother trying to hang it's hat on that.

Obviously, a centre the magnitude of the IFSC is rather palatial for Sligo what I was getting at in my previous post was the fact that there is a severe lack of well established big name firms specialising in the financial sector and willing to recruit and train grads. I suppose Stephen Street is our equivilent to the IFSC?! and IMO there's slim pickings there

Culchie wrote: »

However you are right in one respect, there is a dirth of 20/30 somethings who can take on the crustys on Tax advice/marketing experience/legal advice......but where are they?

Right here!

Culchie wrote: »

Sligo business is too biased to 'high street retailing' ... too many shops, not enough customers......or tourists to bolster the footfall. Every second shop has a 'beauty salon' above it.

Completely agree with you. What is with all those beauty salons anyway? Only responsible for all those tangoed young girls I see. Another thing Sligo has a lot of is pharmacies, there's 2 on nearly every street!

Culchie wrote: »

These people access low (by comparison) mortgages in time, low value financial products (low rate of take up of pension/investment products/share investing) ....and so little need for 'high quality' financial advice .....so it's a vicious circle.

Are you trying to say Sligo is chav city where no-one has any interest in their finances? Sorry but thats BS.