Given the state of the labour market it is perhaps surprising that Xerox should choose the Republic as its base for a new manufacturing plant and customer services call centre with a target of recruiting 4,100 people by 2003.
The company has already recruited 1,400 people for its European Business Centre in Blanchardstown in just 17 months, and plans to reach the target of 1,600 workers by April 2000. The first of five buildings at the Dundalk Technology Park opened in November with 300 workers and once the other four are completed, a total of 1,900 employees is expected.
Whilst other employers are complaining about the difficulties of finding staff Xerox's director of human resources, Mr Gavin O'Brien, is happy with the way the Xerox recruitment drive is going.
"We don't have any problem attracting people and are confident we can hold on to people in the future," he says. He puts this down to a number of reasons, most importantly the global recognition of the Xerox name and the company's reputation as a people-orientated employer. Xerox offers all employees a wide-ranging benefits package including health insurance for spouses and family. It also promises to pay fully for any training courses an employee wishes to take that relate to their work in the company, and contributes partially to non-work related courses.
"It's easy for companies to say their employees are their most valued asset," says Mr O'Brien, "but it's a lot harder to put it into practice."
The company has been innovative and wide-ranging in its recruitment drive for the Dundalk plant. The search for professionals to move to the area has taken place across the 32 counties and internationally. It has run campaigns at airports to attract returning Irish emigres at Christmas and its website has generated 30-50 enquiries a week from abroad. Xerox has also targeted entertainment venues in Dublin and Belfast looking for young, skilled employees and instead of running stands at recruitment fairs, took a roadshow around Ireland to try to attract interest in "the Xerox story" as it is described.
In preparation for its needs on the factory floor, Xerox is working to increase the potential applicant pool in Dundalk and the surrounding area. One element of this has been a partnership programme with FAS and the Dundalk local employment service and partnership company, designed to prepare unemployed people in the area for work in the plant. So far 122 people have completed training programmes with 75-80 per cent going on to get a job in the plant.
Mr Brendan Dunleavy, the training centre manager, says that the arrival of Xerox has been a major boost for the unemployed in Dundalk, and has the potential to greatly improve the area's long-running unemployment problem.
Working in conjunction with Dundalk Institute of Technology, Xerox is also targeting school leavers through a course involving six months of training and six months on placement, after which a job in the plant is a near certainty. The first 30 trainees will join the company in January, with the same number planned to start in six months' time.
With these firm foundations for the area's future labour supply in place, Xerox is so confident of finding the required number of new employees that it has given a commitment to local employers to poach no more than 10 per cent of any local business's employees.
At the European Business Centre in Blanchardstown Xerox has centralised its European business services. The need for workers with "dual skills" - a second language, and a financial or technical background - has meant a wide-ranging recruitment drive with more than 60 per cent of the workforce coming from abroad.
"We have almost exhausted the market of people with dual skills in Ireland," says Mr O'Brien. "For example, where in Ireland do you find a Finnish-speaking accountant, you've got to go to Finland to find them."
Fortunately Xerox has found that Dublin is perceived as an attractive place to live with a cosmopolitan and vibrant image. However, on arrival some staff have found the poor transport infrastructure and high house prices disappointing.
