Cork and Kerry region records highest FDI job creation rate during 2023 

THE Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has reported that Cork and Kerry have recorded the highest growth rate of foreign direct investment (FDI) job creation in the country in 2023.

The South-West region, which encompasses Cork and Kerry, now has a record number of people employed in FDI jobs, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney told The Echo.

“There are now 51,296 multinational jobs in Cork and Kerry, and I would say close to 50,000 of those are in Cork,” said Mr Coveney.

“In net terms, the South-West actually created the most FDI jobs, so it’s a really good news story for Cork.

“In terms of FDI job gains in 2023, the South-West had 2,596 new jobs, and there were 1,536 losses, so there’s a net gain of 1,060, which is a 2.3% growth rate in the South-West. In net terms, that’s the highest growth number of job creation in any region.”

The minister noted that the official figure for full-time employment in FDI jobs in the South-West is 47,845, but temporary employment such as short-term contracts brings the number to 51,296.

He said this was “a pretty strong performance” given a year in which capital investment become considerably more expensive, with pharma and life sciences markets under some pressure, as well as several large tech companies cutting back their numbers.

“Despite serious international turmoil, supply chain disruption, a post-covid environment, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, despite all of that, we’ve reached an all-time high in terms of foreign direct investment jobs numbers in Cork and Kerry, very much driven by Cork,” said Mr Coveney.

“So despite all of that, we’ve seen an all-time high in terms of the number of people employed in FDI jobs in the South-West, in Cork and Kerry, but dominated by Cork. It’s the highest figure ever in terms of people employed here in foreign direct investment companies.”