Northern Ireland is making a new push for U.S. companies to outsource more high-level technical insurance jobs to that country.
At a ceremony this week marking the opening of its New York City office, Invest Northern Ireland officials trumpeted the area as one with the kind of educated and available workforce financial service companies are looking for today.
Allstate, Northbrook, Illinois and Liberty Mutual, Boston, are among the companies that have set up software development centers in Belfast and together employ nearly 1,300 workers, said INI senior vice president John Haran.
"Our technology savvy workforce, first-rate telecom infrastructure, rigorous intellectual property protection and common cultural heritage make Northern Ireland an excellent choice for global financial companies," Mr. Haran said.
Outsourcing of U.S. jobs became a hot issue in last year's presidential campaign. But Mr. Haran said that the jobs created in Northern Ireland serve the European operations of global companies such as Allstate and Liberty Mutual and therefore do not take American jobs.
He also said Northern Ireland cannot compete for outsourcing of the kind of lower level jobs involved in call centers that serve U.S. companies. "We would be foolish to try and compete with India on that where they can pay something like $2 an hour," he said.
But Northern Ireland will still compete with India for the jobs involving software development, research and technical infrastructure support, he said.
Mr. Haran also said that Northern Ireland has enjoyed a decade of relative calm and the fact that Continental now offers daily non-stop flights to Belfast will also make it more attractive to U.S. customers.
While the Republic of Ireland's economic blossoming has been well-documented in recent years, Mr. Haran said the talent pool has been pretty well tapped compared to the nine counties in the north.
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