A major tech, biotech and aviation recruitment event hosted by Career Zoo is taking place in Limerick on February 1, 2020, with the aim of pairing sci-tech and aviation employers with world class STEM and professional services talent who are interested in starting the New Year with a new career in the Midwest.
The event called ‘Tech on the Wild Atlantic Way’ recognises that people tend to question their working and living situations when a New Year dawns and the fact that the Midwest now offers tech and biotech workers career opportunities and salaries that are at least on a par with those offered in Dublin, with the added bonus of a better work/life balance and more affordable housing.
The Midwest is fast becoming a go-to location as its tech scene continues to grow with major multinationals and Irish companies setting up in Limerick and Shannon. In addition, the region boasts a booming aviation-industry sector with hundreds of career opportunities.
“Tech on the Wild Atlantic Way”, to be held at Thomond Park, Limerick, will have a special focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) – the event was launched at the Jaguar Land Rover offices in Shannon, where the use of AI in smart driving is being developed.
Offering the enticing benefits of shorter commutes, higher take home pay, relatively low housing costs (housing is up to 52% cheaper than Dublin) and a well-established sci-tech ecosystem, the Midwest recruitment event is expected to attract over 2,000 STEM professionals and over 50 tech, bio tech and aviation companies.
A specially commissioned private 2020 Tech Train will be delivering talent from Heuston, Dublin to Limerick for the event.
As well as featuring keynote speakers from leading tech companies in the region and a variety of presentations from 50+ employers, the event will feature two intriguing workshops – a Why R? Mini Conference and a Data Science Learnathon.
Bringing together speakers, coders, and R enthusiasts from across Ireland, for a day of talks and workshops, the Why R? Mini Conference will explore, share and inspire ideas about the use of R, the programming language for statistical computing and graphics. The Data Science Learnathon will blend a workshop about the data science cycle with a hackathon where people will work in groups to hack a workflow-based solution to guided exercises.
This recruitment event will be building on the success of recent Career Zoo events in Sligo, Athlone and Waterford. Commenting, Career Zoo Director Brian Ó hOisín said:
“This is a time of year when people consider what they want to do with their lives. Do they want to continue living and working in Dublin, which is becoming less and less human friendly, or are they willing to embrace something entirely new? There has been a perception in the past that moving out of Dublin entails sacrifice – that your salary or quality of work might not be as high – but that is no longer the case.
“The Midwest now offers a better alternative to Dublin. It offers the best companies, the best technology and the most exciting work in STEM-related sectors with the added benefit of affordable housing and a better work/life balance. This high-energy event will showcase the best sci-tech and aviation opportunities in the Midwest and surrounding regions.”
As part of the launch of ‘Tech on the Wild Atlantic Way’ February 2020, Jaguar Land Rover Ireland General Manager John Cormican and Kevin Green, HR expert and Author of “Competitive People Strategy” recently held a discussion on the impact of Tech and AI on talent attraction in the Midwest and on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Jaguar Land Rover Ireland General Manager John Cormican said: “The launch of Career Zoo 2020 at our Jaguar Land Rover offices in Shannon was a great opportunity to connect with employers from the Midwest. There are so many opportunities for STEM talent in this region, Career Zoo’s ‘Tech on the Wild Atlantic Way’ is set to be an exciting event, and we look forward to taking part.”
Commenting, Will Corcoran, Midwest Development Manager, IDA Ireland, said: “The Midwest is a vibrant and dynamic region and with substantial Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent year. There are great opportunities here for local, national and international talent. There is a great ecosystem here working together with a high level of collaboration across academia, government, industry, and research institutes.”
Career Zoo is also excited to announce a partnership with the International Aviation Services Centre (IASC), a Shannon Group brand developed to promote the growing aviation cluster at Shannon. The aerospace sector is booming and there are hundreds of opportunities available across a range of areas including engineering, tech, finance, risk, legal, sales and project management.
John Drysdale, Business Development Manager, IASC, said the region was home to more than 80 aviation related businesses operating in the fields of aircraft leasing and finance, maintenance and repair, airworthiness and fleet management. He added: “We see significant opportunities within aerospace engineering-related activities like R&D, aero-manufacturing and innovative technology.”
The event will also include local and national tech meet up groups including Python Ireland who will be joining the event to run workshops and hacks. Kevin O’Brien from Python Ireland said: “It’s a great opportunity to meet the folks at the heart of the tech ecosystem in Ireland and get involved in some cool tech activities on the day. There’s so much happening on the tech scene in the West and Midwest and we’re excited about what we’re building with this event. Bring your laptop!”
At the event, employers will be able to brief job seekers face-to-face on a string of vacancies across a range of roles including IoT, AI, Aviation, R&D, Pharma, Medtech, Fintech, Data, Back-end, Front-end, Cyber, VR, AR and DevOps. There will also be workshops featuring sci-tech leaders, as well as panel discussions and lightning talks from participating employers. This will be followed by an after party featuring rugby and refreshments.
See www.careerzoo.ie/limerick/ for more details on the event
