Clampdown on counterfeit drugs leads to creation of 40 new jobs in Ireland

40 new highly-skilled positions will be created over the next 12-18 months.

Specialist software integration firm SL Controls has announced the creation of 40 new full-time jobs in Ireland over the next 12-18 months. Headquartered in Sligo, the company also has offices in Galway, Limerick and Dublin and the creation of 40 highly-skilled positions in the engineering field will bring the total workforce to 104, having expanded staff by 30 per cent in 2016. A number of factors have led to the creation of jobs at SL Controls, chief among which is a clampdown on counterfeit drugs, leading to an increased demand for SL Control’s specialist expertise in the integration of software to track medicines and medical devices. Increased regulations to clamp down on counterfeit products means that serialisation will be a global requirement in all major trading blocs by 2019, driving the pharmaceutical industry to implement serialisation solutions to comply with these regulations. SL Controls co-founders, Shane Loughlin and Keith Moran Recruitment has already started for the specific engineering roles, which include: validation, control systems, quality, computer science, vision and field engineers. Keith Moran, SL Controls Managing Director and co-founder said: “Our business has doubled in size over the last few years so these new full-time jobs will allow us to expand our regional offices with more specialist software engineers based directly in these areas. “This significant boost to our work force will allow us to grow further into Europe, the US and other markets as well as continue to support our existing clients. It is important to us to hire only full-time engineers as this creates clear career paths for our employees as well as stability for our customers. “The serialisation side of our business is one of our business units that is rapidly expanding due to the regulation deadlines that are looming across Europe and the US. It is boosting our business outside of Ireland, which is, in part, why we require the new staff.”