By Business & Finance 
Professional services firm KPMG has announced the creation of 200 new tech jobs in a £14m expansion in Northern Ireland.
Professional services KPMG has announced 200 new tech jobs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a £14m expansion. The roles will be in a ‘centre of excellence’ for digital consultancy services, including cyber-security, applied intelligence and digital transformation.
According to KPMG, when the roles are in place they will generate £7m in salaries – suggesting an average salary of £35,000.
Johnny Hanna, Partner in Charge, Belfast, said it is the biggest expansion for KPMG in Northern Ireland since the firm opened a Belfast office in 1974.
These are all the services which are en vogue and in demand – now more so than ever with the huge data sitting in the cloud as a result of working from home.
Describing the roles as “high quality jobs,” Mr Hanna continued: “These are all the services which are en vogue and in demand – now more so than ever with the huge data sitting in the cloud as a result of working from home. Remote working and the pandemic has probably turbocharged that demand from business.”
The Department for the Economy, in association with Belfast Met, has said that training for applicants for 160 of the jobs will be provided through pre-employment assured skills. The academies will train graduates, who will be eligible to apply for the jobs after 10 weeks.
Mr Hanna said the Northern Ireland protocol could yield opportunities. The protocol was set up to avoid a hard border in Ireland by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods.
Mr Hanna said: “We all recognise that there’s a lot of disruption and a lot of challenges on the Great Britain to NI piece. But purely from a business adviser perspective, you have to think that ability to export into GB and EU markets has to be beneficial.”
