Genworth Financial plans to bring 117 jobs over next three years

GENWORTH Financial has announced that it will create 117 jobs at its Shannon plant over the next three years.

The firm has been in the Shannon Free Zone since 1997 and currently employs 345 full time workers, despite announcing a number of redundancies in late 2008.
The new jobs will be in the operations division of the lifestyle protection business, which helps clients to meet repayment obligations on loans, mortgages and other credit products should they be unable to pay due to accident, illness, involuntary unemployment, disability or death.
At the launch the president of Genworth Financial’s European operations Bob Brannock told The Clare Champion that the jobs would be skilled positions. “The jobs are in the areas of accounting, IT, some HR roles and operations. For us, operations means underwriters, they are all very skilled positions, all graduate type roles.”
Mr Brannock said that the Shannon workforce have performed well.
“We are focussed on growth and delighted to be expanding operations at our Shannon Free Zone centre of excellence. Our skilled teams in Shannon have played a vital role in helping families create financial security through this economic cycle.
“As we grow into new geographies and enhance the capabilities we offer to our distributors, we will need to build teams and develop our people so we continue to deliver outstanding levels of service.”
He said that other countries where the company operates would also have been seeking the jobs, but that Shannon had a few advantages. “The fact that we have been here for many years, the fact that our workforce here been as good as anywhere else was a key factor, plus the engagement from Shannon Development and Government to ensure that the infrastructure we require was in place, all helped.”
Shannon Development Chief Executive Vincent Cunnane said it was a significant announcement. “This is a fantastic boost for Shannon. With over 6,000 employees worldwide, Genworth Financial is one of the most respected financial companies in the world. Genworth Financial’s decision to expand its workforce at their Shannon Free Zone facility is an endorsement of the continued appeal of the Zone as an attractive location for global financial service companies. I would like to congratulate Genworth and assure them of Shannon Development’s continued support in growing their Shannon operations.”
Genworth Financial Inc is a Fortune 500 global financial security company. It has more than $100 billion in assets and employs around 6,000 people in more than 25 countries.