TEN graduates from business and accountancy related degrees have secured employment with a manufacturing company.
The new recruits join global manufacturer Terex’s rapidly expanding Global Business Services (GBS) team based in Lurgan.
The GBS team, which provides financial reporting and management accounting support services to the corporation globally, has grown from 42 to 110 people in the past 18 months, a 162% increase, and headcount is expected to reach 140 within the next year.
The graduates will be sponsored by Terex through their Chartered Institute of Management Accountancy (CIMA) qualifications.
Speaking about why Terex Global Business Services chose to partner with CIMA, GBS UK financial controller, Cheryl Magookin, explained: “As an employer, the CIMA qualifications offers the right flexibility in terms of study and examinations. They also provide our graduates with the right breadth of knowledge and expertise.
“This opens the opportunity to progress within the organisation.”
Business relationship manager at CIMA Ireland, Kevin Gormley, said: “Over the past six months, CIMA has been responding to an uplift in demand from employers and major financial recruitment firms for the CIMA qualification as Northern Ireland continues to carve out a niche within the area of global shared services and support centres.”
Meanwhile, the latest Labour Market Report shows the Northern Ireland employment rate is the highest since the series began in 1995.
The report, by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, shows unemployment decreased over the quarter February-April 2016 and the economic inactivity rate is the lowest since the series began.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicated the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and by 0.4 pps over the year, to 5.8%