Skillnet Ireland chief executive Paul Healy.
In 2023, over 2,000 people and 500 businesses in County Wicklow participated in upskilling with a Skillnet Ireland Business Network, via some 11,000 local training days.
Established 25 years ago this year, Skillnet Ireland provides programmes to businesses of all sizes in key areas such as digital skills, skills for a green transition and enterprise leadership.
Figures from the Skillnet Ireland Annual Report 2023 reveal the national agency delivered over 11,000 training days in County Wicklow last year. 53pc of those who undertook training were women and 47pc were men, while those aged 30 to 39 years were the largest group of people availing of upskilling supports.
The vast majority (98pc) of the Wicklow companies that upskilled their workforce with Skillnet Ireland in 2023 were small and medium enterprises. The greatest uptake came from the health sector, followed by food and drink, pharmaceutical, services, manufacturing, agriculture and retail.
Companies based in Wicklow undertook upskilling programmes with more than 50 of the 70 Skillnet Business Networks based on the sector in which their company operates, or with one of the networks in their region.
Skillnet Ireland chief executive Paul Healy, said: “By investing in staff, through the cost sharing approach with Skillnet Ireland, businesses in this region, and throughout the country, are more agile and adapt to technological advancements more seamlessly.
“Upskilling is proven to increase employee retention and creates a pipeline of future talent. I would like to commend the almost 27,000 companies that chose to work with Skillnet Ireland in 2023 and for putting the development of their teams centre stage.”
In 2023, Skillnet Ireland provided upskilling and training programmes to the value of €83.4 million to over 26,600 businesses and more than 97,700 workers nationally. Companies contributed €31.4 million or 37pc of the total investment towards upskilling their staff, a €4.9 million increase on 2022, signalling a high level of buy-in from industry sectors to develop their teams in partnership with Skillnet Ireland.