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Cork County Council says hundreds of people have already signed up to a new initiative to map the talent and skill-set of people living across the county. The initiative is part of Project ACT, which is a multi-million euro programme to support Cork through the Covid-19 crisis and promote the county as a destination for future inward investment.

The council has partnered with Irish company Abodoo to collate anonymised data on the types of skills that are available for potential employers and investors to use. The details inputted by users will not be shared with any third party, but will be used to produce a “Talent Heatmap” which will indicate areas where companies can recruit qualified candidates.

Cork already has a strong reputation in a number of sectors, however this Talent Heatmap will help to identify other potential opportunities for employment. This information has an added value given that many people living in County Cork have been enjoying the benefits of remote-working for the first as a result of the recent emergency.

Members of the public are being asked to assist in the creation of the talent and remote working map by registering their skills set at www.abodoo.com/corkcounty. The service is free and information provided in the project will not include any personally identifiable material.

Amongst the type of skills already added to the Talent Heatmap for County Cork are:

• Software Development
• Autocad
• Pharma
• Customer Service/Support
• Legal
• One of the first to support the Talent Heatmap was artist Will Sliney, who is based in Ballycotton but whose work has featured globally through Marvel Comics.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Ian Doyle noted how the last number of weeks have seen a complete shift in working arrangements, “Already there has been a strong response, indicating the range of skills that are available. Through Project ACT, Cork County Council has committed to supporting not just the 23 biggest towns in the county, but also the people who live in or near them. We have a unique opportunity to position ourselves correctly for when the global economy starts to recover, and supporting people who want to work remotely while making a significant contribution to an employer based elsewhere is one way of doing that. Project ACT is a key plan for our future success and I would encourage those working across Cork County to participate in the initiative so that we can get a full picture of the skills and talent of our most vital resource, our people.”

Abodoo captures over 50,000 skills and helps organisations identify their current and future talent, helping them better identify the talent they wish to attract and to be more informed about where they can start hiring more people if they wish to do so. The initial stages of the project will include an education and awareness campaign in digital and social media. The project has now been launched and Cork County residents are invited to register their skills at www.abodoo.com/corkcounty and follow the campaign on Social Media using the hashtag #corkproud.

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