Professional services firm KPMG will add 800 jobs this year, half of which will be targeted at experienced professionals.
One of the big four accounting organisations, KPMG said strong demand for its services across Ireland requires that it recruit 400 new experienced staff and an additional 400 graduate trainees across disciplines including audit, tax consulting and deal advisory.
While it is beefing up its traditional roles, the firm is also recruiting in the areas of cybersecurity, data analytics and sustainability. Its managing partner, Seamus Hand, said increased focus in these areas had resulted in "strong growth in these services".
KPMG's appetite for expansion has been signalled for some time given its citywide search for a new headquarters to accommodate its growing workforce in Dublin. Across Belfast, Galway, Cork and Dublin the firm employs more than 3,400 staff.
The State’s largest professional services firm said it is investing now to increase the breadth of services it offers, including by developing its expertise to help its clients “assess and implement their own sustainability and decarbonisation strategies”.
KPMG, which last month appointed former tánaiste Mary Harney to its public-interest committee, has been steadily growing its headcount since the State's economic turnaround. Since 2014, the firm increased its staff numbers by 70 per cent while revenue last year totalled €414 million.
With its latest expansion plans, KPMG will remain the biggest employer of the big four. Rival EY last October set out plans to create 600 new jobs bringing its headcount to almost 3,700 people. With its new target, KPMG’s staff headcount is on track to breach 4,000.
“The challenges of rapid technological change and greater regulation are among the key drivers for success in Irish business and are reflected in the increased demand for our services and the roles we’re looking to fill,” Mr Hand added.
KPMG’s Irish expansion contrasts sharply with the fortunes of its UK sister firm. The British arm of KPMG has drawn up plans to save £100 million in costs. Some of the measures include making about a third of its personal assistants redundant and recalling hundreds of employees’ corporate mobile phones, the Financial Times reported in October.
