With the contributions of the Irish Times writers and guest contributors Bono and Bob Geldof we believe that with this special edition that we can really make a difference to  help break the cycle of negativity that too many people have been willing to accept in Ireland and instead empower them to think differently and act on the future they all want for themselves and their country.

Here is a piece in The Irish Times that describes what the project is all about.

Here is his fantastic article in todays Irish Times & Hireland special editon.

One year on – Hireland initiative marks 4,000 new jobs during 2012 representing a saving of €30,000,000 to the state

- 6,000 job pledges on Hireland in 2012 leads to 4,000 people placed in jobs

- Hireland aims to double its target to 10,000 pledges by the end of 2013

- Almost 75% of SMEs surveyed plan to hire, on average, 6 new employees in 2013

Over 1,400 companies pledged more than 6,000 jobs as a result of the Hireland initiative during 2012. On average, companies pledged over three jobs each.

Research conducted by Amárach last week, amongst over 100 SMEs, revealed some of the biggest benefits experienced by employers, as a direct result of hiring additional staff.

Almost 9 in 10 employers claimed that customer service had improved with over 80% stating that existing staff had been freed up to work on other aspects of the business. Other benefits included a boost to staff morale with three quarters of employers stating that morale had improved within the company. Sixty percent of employers said that taking on

additional staff had also sent a message to competitors.

Hireland launched in January 2012 with a national campaign designed to spark the nation into thinking differently about the advantages of creating jobs over cutting them – and the campaign is working. By challenging employers to think about what they can do to improve their business through hiring, Hireland is changing the mindset from one of firing as a survival strategy to one of hiring as a growth strategy.

At the time of Hireland’s launch, half of employers said that they were afraid to hire but looking ahead to 2013, 74% of companies surveyed twelve months on, plan to hire an average of six new employees this year with the nature of those jobs being mostly full-time, or a mix of part-time and full-time. Over half of companies expect to hire graduates while four in ten plan to hire people on the live register, or those who are unemployed.

Commenting on the research findings, Lucy Masterson, co-founder of Hireland said, “Hireland is mobilising a willingness on the part of local businesses to play their part. We’ve had a staggering response. When we set about launching Hireland, we had a target of 5,000 pledges in mind. Through the collective effort of Irish SMEs, we have exceeded this target by 20%.

What’s even more promising is the feedback from employers, who fully intend to hire more people having experienced the positive benefits for themselves, despite their initial concerns.”

Each individual hired from the live register results in increased public revenue of €380 per individual, per week.

Today also saw Hireland unveil its 2013 campaign, which comprises of a national advertising and media campaign designed to keep the positive momentum going by pushing the call to “Hire 1” in to the county networks.

“All the research shows that the biggest problem unemployed people are faced with is that they don’t have networks of support. In addition to the county call out Hireland’s campaign will also feature a new component www.hiremyskill.ie, empowering people to zone in on the talents they have. Ireland is renowned for its skilled work force and while we are in difficult times we mustn’t lose sight of the deep pool of talent just waiting to make things happen here in Ireland,” continued Masterson.

Hireland is an entirely voluntary initiative, which started on a budget of just €149 with the sole ambition of getting people back to work in order to prevent people’s skills from becoming obsolete. Employers interested in hiring can pledge a job free-of-charge on www.hireland.ie

Research thanks to

Amárach

UCD Innovation Academy: http://bit.ly/HirelandUCDInnovationAcademy

ENDS

For further information or to arrange an interview with a Hireland spokesperson please contact:

Martyn Rosney

WHPR Tel: 01 6690030

About Hireland

Hireland is a movement of business professionals, the marketing and media industry and students who are concerned about the human and economic cost of high unemployment. Hireland is a national communications initiative designed to encourage employers to hire one of the thousands of skilled people who are currently out of work. Through collective entrepreneurialism and positive thinking Hireland aimed to create 5,000 new job opportunities in 2012 and achieved this milestone in 6 months.

The good work and value in the Hireland initiative has been recognised by The Arthur Guinness Fund who named Hireland as one of their 10 fund recipients for 2012. Hireland was also selected as a finalist in the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland award.

For more information on Hireland please visit www.hireland.ie

Martyn Rosney
Account Executive, Corporate

Thanks Ian!

http://www.ianstaunton.com

Click on the image to download the PDF.

We now have a huge group of skilled, educated and ambitious people who are unemployed. People who see their future in another country, who are torn and frayed from the recession, disillusioned about whether a recovery will happen…

..But it will. That is why we started Hireland over 18 months ago with humble beginnings at a kitchen table. We know that one day this will be over and the Celtic Tiger will roar again. We know that the power of hiring one person will have a huge positive impact not only on the economy but on society. And most importantly we know the power and potential Irish SMEs have to bring us out of this recession.

Its a game of inches.

We have had so many people helping us. Hireland would have never existed without people donating their time and talents to this cause or without are Facebook and Twitter followers supporting us along the way. Not to mention the thousands of companies who have pledged to hire. The turnout has been incredibly humbling.

Eventually this recession will be over. We can’t say when or how but Ireland will recover. Until then Hireland will keep pushing one job at a time towards the recovery.

“Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”

- Oliver Goldsmith

If you didn’t get a chance to see the BBC documentary there’s a link here.

This support not only gives our initiative validation as an idea that can have a social impact on the lives of many in Ireland, but also gives us some vital funding to enable us to accelerate our efforts around getting the nation to think differently and collectively about job creation and then acting on it!

We are delighted for our friends at The Arthur Guinness Fund who were on the receiving end of an award last week.

The Fund received the Corporate Communications Award from Minister Brian Hayes at the Public Relations Excellence awards.

The judges commended The Arthur Guinness Fund on its broad reach; the real support of people and bringing the initiatives to the next level; the practical assistance and inputs from employees; for its work supporting social entrepreneurs and, ultimately, the positive impact seen locally around the country.

Hireland were there to cheer them on as we were also shortlisted for an award in the Not For Profit category.

The kind folks at the Innovation Academy conducted some research to support the case to why businesses should Hire One. Check it out!!!

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