It will indicate high-quality positions, all of which will pay salaries above the private sector's average annual wage.

A workforce management firm from the United States plans to open a technology engineering center in Northern Ireland, creating 153 jobs.

Workrise was founded in Austin, Texas, and it connects skilled labor contractors with companies in need of employees.

“It is a pleasure to welcome this leading technology company to Northern Ireland, an investment that will make an important contribution to our economy,” said Economy Minister Gordon Lyons.

“We want Northern Ireland to be stronger than it was before the conflict.

“We want our people to develop the skills of the future and our businesses to be resilient, innovative, sustainable and competitive.

“One of the ways we can achieve this is to attract new investment and create high-value employment.

“I am therefore very pleased to announce this latest new investment into Northern Ireland.

“Workrise’s decision to establish its new engineering center here will create 153 high-quality jobs, all paying salaries above the average annual wage for the private sector.

“With a hybrid working approach in place, people from all over Northern Ireland will be able to apply and there are exciting opportunities on offer for graduates.

“Overall the project will contribute £6.8million in wages to the local economy once all the roles are in place with benefits of the investment being felt across Northern Ireland.”

Invest Northern Ireland has offered the company £994,500 in funding to help it create new technology jobs.

Xuan Yong, co-founder and CEO of Workrise, stated, "To achieve our growth plans, we are expanding and centralizing our software engineering function." We chose Northern Ireland as the site for this new center because of its high-quality software engineers with industry experience, as well as a strong pipeline of graduates from your excellent universities.”

Kevin Holland, CEO of Invest Northern Ireland, stated, "Northern Ireland has a well-developed and growing ICT sector." We work with partners throughout Northern Ireland to continue developing the talent that companies like Workrise seek.

“New investors with novel technology ideas and solutions offer excellent potential for knowledge transfer, career progression and sector development, enhancing Northern Ireland’s world-class reputation in this field.

“Workrise plans to create the 153 jobs over the next four years, with an initial focus on establishing the engineering team.

“It is currently recruiting software engineering roles including Backend, Frontend and DevOps with circa 30 staff in place so far, working remotely across Northern Ireland.

“Later recruitment will turn to product management and programme management roles with ultimately plans in place to establish a central office in Belfast.

According to the most recent labor market figures, the number of employees has increased for the eighth consecutive month, with an increase of 21,400 employees (2.9 percent) in the last three months alone.

In addition, the number of payrolled employees has remained above pre-pandemic levels for the second month in a row, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

In July 2021, the number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in Northern Ireland was 762,600, a 1.1 percent increase over the previous month and a 3.1 percent increase over the previous year. This is also the highest figure ever recorded.

Nisra compiled the statistics using HMRC payroll data, which is regarded as the most up-to-date and best overall indicator of the labor market.

Employee numbers are now at their highest point in history, up 1.3 percent from March 2020 pre-Covid.

Even though the number of redundancies confirmed in July was the highest so far in 2021, with 250 redundancies confirmed last month, the total for the year is 5,750.

At 3,180, this year's total was 81% higher than the previous year. 250 redundancies were confirmed in July, bringing the annual total to 5,750. This year's total was 81% higher than the previous year (3,180).

Meanwhile, the number of proposed collective redundancies has risen from 150 in May to 490 in June and 850 in July, bringing the total number of proposed collective redundancies in the last year to 6,090.

The unemployment rate has risen in the last quarter and year. The Labour Force Survey estimated the rate to be 3.8 percent between April and June 2021, an increase of 0.4 percent and 1.2 percent year on year.

In other news, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme supported approximately 44,000 jobs at the end of June, representing a 6% take-up rate.

This is a continuation of the downward trend that began with approximately 117,000 supported jobs in January.

For the fifth month in a row, the number of claimants has decreased. The seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count in July was 50,000 (5.1 percent of the workforce), down 800 (1.5 percent) from the previous month's revised figure.

The July claimant count was 22% lower than the previous peak in May 2020, but 64% higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.

Northern Ireland had the lowest unemployment rate, the lowest employment rate, and the highest economic inactivity rate of any UK region.

Zymplify will be investing £1.5 million in marketing, management, and sales positions.

Following a £1.5 million investment in its business, a marketing software company on the north coast is creating 19 new jobs. Zymplify in Portstewart specializes in sales and marketing software that assists businesses in rapidly scaling up.

It is now aiming to fill positions in sales, customer support, marketing, technical, and management, thanks to a six-figure investment from the economic development agency Invest NI.

It is hiring a total of 26 people, though seven of the new positions are already filled. According to Invest Northern Ireland, the jobs that have been filled will result in salary contributions to the economy of £1.5 million per year, implying an average salary of nearly £58,000 per year.

"Our platform makes the lives of marketers easier," said Michael Carlin, CEO of Zymplify, which was founded in 2013.

"In one easy to understand dashboard, they can plan and analyse their digital and social marketing activities in real-time.

“We announced an ambitious growth and development plan back in 2018 and over the last three years we have been working hard to grow and strengthen our business.”

He stated that Invest Northern Ireland's assistance had been "integral in our success to date."

Mr Carlin went on to say, "The marketing automation space has proven to be very fast growing globally, and our new staff will help us carve out a larger piece of this market and fulfill the potential we know our business is capable of."

“We are very excited for the future .”

Alan McKeown, Invest NI executive director of regional business, said: “Invest NI has been working closely with Zymplify over the last 10 years.

"We have offered the company business advice and guidance, R&D support to innovate its services, skills support and financial assistance to grow its team.

"Combined, this is helping  Zymplify  grow its reputation in the global automated software market and assisting it to meet demand for its services with new products now on board and new contracts secured in Great Britain, Republic of Ireland and Europe.”

Invest Northern Ireland has offered Zymplify £182,000 in job support.

Mr McKeown described the announcements as "an important step in the company's journey." "The jobs being created will generate over £1.5m of additional annual salaries; a great boost for the local community and economy.”

Mr Carlin spent nearly 20 years at AIG before founding Zymplify, working in Hong Kong, Paris, and Belgium. He also worked at Terex before launching instaGIV in 2010. Clearcourse purchased the mobile marketing and technology provider aimed at charities and the non-profit sector in 2020.

Zymplify has advisory offices in Belfast, London, Boston, and Manchester, in addition to its headquarters in Portstewart.

The Department for the Economy has also recognized it for its record of innovation.

Invest Northern Ireland's R&D assistance is partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.

Connected Health, a home care provider, has announced a 4% increase in hourly pay to £10 per hour as part of a challenge to hire 100 care workers in a week.

Connected Health, based in Belfast, also stated that it is offering a separate £100 "sign-up bonus" to every care worker it hires this month, with the new hire then required to stay for at least three months.

The company stated that its recruitment drive was intended to address a staffing crisis in the industry. It plans to hire "hundreds" of new caregivers across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom over the next year. The company also announced a "significant" pay increase from £9.50 to £10 per hour, which it claims will make its employees "the best-paid care workers in Northern Ireland."

When its carers began receiving a minimum hourly wage of £9.50 an hour earlier this year, Connected Health said it became the first home care company in Northern Ireland to pay the Real Living Wage.

According to Director Ryan Williams, there is a growing need for home care on both sides of the border.

“The NHS and the HSE are facing the same issue — the need for more people to be discharged from hospital.

"As a sector, we require many more carers working on the ground in their communities to help achieve that.

“Currently health services are experiencing winter pressures in the middle of summer and drastic action is needed to meet the substantially increased demand for home care workers.

“We are answering the call and this initiative is designed as much to raise awareness of the seriousness of the situation, as it is to help address it by increasing staff numbers.”

He claimed that the company could "easily" provide jobs for 1,000 qualified applicants, and that "the situation is the same right around the care sector on the island of Ireland and in the United Kingdom."

Mr. Williams added: "Many more carers are needed on the ground today in their local areas, supporting vulnerable local people who need assistance to ensure they can live comfortably at home, as per their wishes.

"By doing this, they will be vastly improving the quality of life of those who wish to remain in their own homes, while also relieving the pressures on our struggling hospitals and stretched health services.

“We have to find the new capacity to meet the increasing needs of communities.”