About Us

As the Northern Ireland Adviser on Employment and Skills I am responsible for providing independent advice to the Minister for Employment and Learning on the employment and skills needs of Northern Ireland businesses. I also represent the Northern Ireland business view on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. In doing so, I aim to ensure that UK wide employment and skills systems are sufficiently flexible to fully benefit Northern Ireland employers and their workforce.

My other main task is to promote the benefits of skills investment and best practice to employers; in particular, to the small business sector.

My aim as Adviser is to see an improvement in prosperity for all citizens of Northern Ireland through higher levels of employment, skills and productivity.

On this website you can find out the latest news on my activities, the main employment and skills developments locally and nationally, as well as useful updates on the work of the Northern Ireland Employment and Skills Advisory Group.

There are also a range of useful links and signposts where employers can gain practical help, ranging from advice to financial support. I would strongly encourage you to explore some of these.

I know many employers find it difficult to access the support available from government. To help reduce the complexity of the skills system, a partnership of employers, governments and brokers have worked together to create a business tool called talentmap. The new talentmap initiative is a useful tool for businesses to navigate the education, employment and skills system and access the support systems available to them. You will find it on the home page and I would encourage you to use it to help build the competitiveness of your workforce.

Bill McGinnis
NI Adviser on Employment and Skills