Niyamath Parveez

Northern Ireland has never had its troubles to seek and during the 1980s, the country experienced huge levels of unemployment, mainly caused by the troubles. The impact of the troubles led to huge unemployment as companies could not continue to trade safely and the nation struggled greatly. The north of Ireland has taken huge steps in recent years to rectify many of the problems and this has been shown in the development of the major cities and the increase in employment opportunities. Belfast is a city transformed and has benefited from an influx on new companies looking to take advantage of the bonuses and benefits offered to them to set up in the city.

Of course, the benefits that were to be had in Belfast were recognized by other countries and cities, which obviously looked to the progress made by the six counties. This has been seen in the advance of the offshore outsourcing around the world and this may be a negative factor in the future of Northern Ireland. This stands apart from the high level of progress made by Northern Ireland with one of the major firms who set up home in the nation was Bombardier. The company makes planes and was a massive employer in the nation and had a great impact on the local economy. The impact that a firm of this size can have on the local economy is huge. Not only do people benefit from having a wage but so many other local firms, not to mention the tax payer benefit to the local council experience an upturn in their fortunes. However, the same can be said in the opposite direction and if a firm decides to move away from a region, there can be difficulty for a great number of people.

In early 2009, Bombardier announced that they would have to make a number of job cuts across the board in order to maintain their financial equilibrium and status. It was announced that almost 1,000 posts at the Shorts facility in Belfast would be shed with over 300 employees being released from their jobs. The remaining posts that would be lost from Short would come from short contracting work, and this can be a huge impact on the local economy. These jobs will be heading to China, as yet another employer heads East to Asia as China looks to move up the chart of outsourcing nations. India is currently the top nation with regards to outsourcing but there is no doubt that China has the potential to take over this position. As the lure and benefits of outsourcing becomes ever more important and vital to a local economy, the battle for outsourcing jobs could become even more intense.

If this turns out to be the case, it is likely that nations such as China will be able to exert a higher level of pressure but the smaller nations could be able to offer lower wages. Depending on what the firm really wants from their outsourcing contract, there is still scope to find the right partner but it may be that the familiar faces take a greater control of the situation.