Thousands of people and 1,000 businesses in Carlow and Kilkenny participate in upskilling with Skillnet

Over 4,000 people and 1,000 businesses in counties Carlow and Kilkenny participated in upskilling with a Skillnet Ireland Business Network last year.

Figures from the Skillnet Ireland Annual Report 2023, reveal the national agency for workforce development delivered over 29,500 training days in Carlow and Kilkenny last year. Just over half (53%) of those who undertook training were men and 47% were women, while those aged 30 to 39 years were the largest group of people availing of upskilling supports.

The vast majority (98%) of the Carlow and Kilkenny companies that upskilled their workforce with Skillnet Ireland in 2023 were small and medium enterprises. The greatest uptake came from the Agriculture sector followed by Tourism & Travel, Services, Technology, Health, Food and Drink and Media/Audiovisual.

NETWORKS
Companies based in Carlow and Kilkenny 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, which include Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet, Macra Agriculture Skillnet and Cultural and Creative Industries Skillnet.

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, across the Irish economy.
Companies contributed €31.4 million or 37% 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.

“The Irish economy continues to benefit greatly from Skillnet Ireland’s delivery of industry-led upskilling initiatives for businesses of all sizes,” said Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan.

“More than 97,000 people working in companies across Ireland took part in upskilling with Skillnet Ireland in 2023, across areas of increasing importance such as sustainability, digitalisation, innovation, and leadership.”