Things are looking up for Northern Ireland with positive figures indicating that the economy is set to grow by 2.4% in 2014*. Foreign direct investment is up, exports are increasing, house prices are stabilising and the jobs market is starting to recover.

However, business professionals know that there are challenges ahead and one area that needs to be addressed is the brain drain of newly qualified graduates . There are concerns amongst education and business leaders about the increasing number of people still choosing to leave Northern Ireland with figures indicating that one in three Northern Ireland graduates** are choosing not to come home after studying across the water.

With economic prospects improving there is no doubt there are new opportunities being created for Northern Ireland’s talented workforce.  486 highly skilled jobs have recently been announced at EY in Belfast offering annual salaries of up to £39k. However it begs the question; are we doing enough to support our highly skilled and dynamic workforce to ensure that they avail of the prospects that exist here?

Today’s young people are very aware of the  career opportunities outside of Northern Ireland, but many are unaware  of what is already on offer  right on their door step.Recent reports indicate that there is a lack of confidence amongst young people about their future in Northern Ireland. Research carried out by Lucid Talk revealed that 67% of young people don’t believe their future is in Northern Ireland, whilst the REED Regional Salary Guide for Northern Ireland shows that over 70% of Northern Ireland’s workforce is not confident that the economy will create jobs with 34% still looking to move away.

We have a population that is young, well-educated and ready to work and we need to make them aware of the many high-skilled job opportunities that already exist here. Hays Recruitment recently reported that job opportunities are growing in almost all including IT, which accounted for 15% of their business, accountancy and finance accounted for a quarter of its business and construction and property accounting for 20%* of their business.  Northern Ireland is an attractive cost location that is ‘open for business’ and the economy is benefitting from recent major jobs boosts, including 80 jobs announced recently at financial services company Financial Transparency Utility; nearly 500 jobs announced at financial software firm First Derivatives Group; 1,000 jobs at Concentrix and over 300 positions at US investment firm Convergys Corporation based in the North West.

There is a lot to be gained going to other regions and countries in terms of building knowledge and skills, but this expertise and best practice needs to be brought back to the Northern Ireland economy.The Northern Ireland Executive is committed to improving education and skills and helping young people to fulfil their full potential, up-skill the workforce and contribute to the local economy through initiatives such as’ Essential Skills Courses’ and ‘Success through Skills’. If we are to meet the challenging targets which are set out in the Programme for Government (2011-2015) including the creation of over 25,000 jobs, then we need to take action to ensure that we hold onto our talented workforce or that they return to Northern Ireland with new skills and renewed vigour.

As the global body for professional accountants, ACCA believes it is important that young people are equipped with the appropriate knowledge and information about suitable routes to skilled employment.For many students the benefits of a degree and the university experience will be weighed up against the increased cost of third level education. Choices are tougher than they’ve probably ever been, especially as the graduate job market is also more competitive than ever before.

There are numerous opportunities that exist here in Northern Ireland; in particular we know first-hand the adaptability and flexibility that the accountancy profession has to offer. Accountants are playing a more important role that ever in helping to rebuild the economy and in delivering more knowledge based revenue streams.  We must ensure that we hold onto our highly skilled students to support growth and help build a sustainable economy.

ENDsFor more information, please contact Shane Finnegan or Katrina Frazer at Aiken PR on 028 9066 3000 or email: firstname@aikenpr.comNotes to Editors:1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.2. We support our 170,000members and 436,000students in180countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of 91 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.3. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.