Hartley People

Recruitment Agency Limerick | Hartley People

Recruitment in Limerick

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Colourful shopfronts and old street lamps beside a stone-walled river running through an Irish town on a sunny day

Hartley People is a Munster-headquartered recruitment group that has recruited across Ireland since 2001. We support employers in Limerick City, Castletroy, Raheen, the wider county and the Mid-West with permanent, temporary and executive hiring, backed by a 150,000+ candidate network across the country.

Limerick at a Glance

25+
Years recruiting across Ireland, since 2001
90,600+
Limerick residents aged 15+ at work (Census 2022, CSO)
160,000+
Candidates in our wider network
Munster
Recruiting Limerick from our Waterford head office, not from Dublin

One Munster-Based Group, Three Ways to Hire in Limerick

Permanent, temporary and executive recruitment. Whatever you need to hire in Limerick, one relationship with our team gives you access to all three.

Permanent Recruitment

Hartley People Recruitment & Training
  • Professional permanent recruitment across industries, functions and seniority levels
  • Recruitment on Demand, Career Services and Outplacement support
  • SearchPLUS sourcing for hard-to-fill and strategic Limerick appointments

Temporary Staffing & Workforce Solutions

Flexiforce, Agency Staffing Solutions
  • Temporary staff for seasonal, project and high-volume Limerick requirements
  • Recruitment Project Management (RPM) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
  • Flexibility, cost control and compliance built in

Executive Search

Burton Sinclair, Titans For Tomorrow
  • Senior, executive and confidential search for Limerick and Mid-West businesses
  • Leadership assessment, succession planning and board-level appointments
  • The LBR (Leaf, Branch, Root) sourcing methodology

Meet the Recruitment Team

You’re hiring a service delivered by people. Meet the recruiters who could be working your Limerick search.

Want the Full Picture of How We Recruit?

This page is about recruiting in Limerick. Our Permanent Recruitment page goes deeper into the services, methods and specialist knowledge behind every permanent hire we make, across Limerick and the rest of Ireland.

  1. Our Services

    How permanent recruitment works with us, from the first brief and shortlist through to offer, start date and aftercare.

  2. Our Methodology

    Our 3E Approach, the market research we do before every search, and how SearchPLUS reaches candidates who never see a job ad.

  3. Industries We Recruit For

    The sectors we hire into across Ireland, and the talent markets and hiring pressures that are particular to each one.

  4. What We Specialise In

    All 19 specialisms, from accountancy and finance, engineering and life sciences to technology, sales and senior leadership.

All of it on one page. A few minutes’ read, then come back and talk to us about your Limerick hire.

Explore Permanent Recruitment

Recruiting Across Limerick & the Mid-West

Fewer than half of the people working in Limerick city and suburbs live there (Census 2022). The rest come in daily from the county, Clare, Tipperary, Cork and Kerry.

Limerick City Newcastle West Kilmallock Abbeyfeale Foynes Askeaton Glin Rathkeale Adare Croom Caherconlish Kilfinane

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Limerick City, County & the Wider Mid-West

Ennis sends more commuters into Limerick city than any other town, and Shannon, Nenagh and Charleville draw on the same people. We recruit accordingly.

The Industries Driving Employment in Limerick

Limerick’s economy shapes the candidate market we recruit into every day. Here’s what’s actually driving hiring across the city, the county and the Mid-West, and what it means if you’re trying to fill a role.

Two quality staff in lab coats and hairnets on a production floor, one holding a clipboard

Biopharma & MedTech

Raheen and Castletroy hold one of the densest life sciences clusters in the country. Raheen has Regeneron’s large biologics campus and a Stryker implant plant dating back to 1972, while the National Technology Park is home to Johnson & Johnson Vision’s contact lens plant, Cook Medical’s European base and Edwards Lifesciences’ heart valve operation.

What this means for employers: a validation engineer in Raheen can change jobs without changing car park. Quality, validation and automation people are approached constantly, so your offer has to beat the site next door, not just the advert.
Two technicians in hairnets, masks and safety glasses checking process equipment in a cleanroom manufacturing area

Semiconductors, Electronics & Tech

Analog Devices is adding a €630 million R&D and manufacturing facility at its Raheen campus, expected to bring around 600 jobs, and the project cleared a key planning hurdle in September 2026. At the National Technology Park, Carelon Global Solutions’ health-tech innovation centre added 100 engineering and data roles in 2024.

  • €630m · Analog Devices, 2023
What this means for employers: when a 600-job semiconductor build starts recruiting, every process, equipment and test engineer in the Mid-West gets a call. Secure your key people now and start senior searches early.
An engineer in a hard hat and safety glasses adjusting a lathe on a manufacturing floor

Engineering & Advanced Manufacturing

Manufacturing is Limerick’s largest employment sector. Census 2022 puts more than 12,500 resident workers in it, ahead of health and retail. Behind the big names sits a deep base of precision engineering, automation, tooling and maintenance work, and the same skills are in demand along the N18 at Shannon Free Zone and up the M7 towards Nenagh.

  • 12,500+ workers · Census 2022
What this means for employers: Shannon and Limerick employers fish in the same pool along the N18. A strong maintenance or automation technician in Raheen will happily look at Shannon, and the reverse is just as true.
A smiling operations team member wearing a headset at a computer in a busy office

Financial & Business Services

Limerick is a serious fund administration centre. Northern Trust opened here in 2007 with 19 people and now employs more than 1,800 across Limerick and Dublin, running asset servicing, technology and corporate functions from the city. Shared services, payroll and professional services firms add further depth.

What this means for employers: experienced fund accountants and transfer agency people are a small, well-networked pool. They know the salary bands as well as you do, so a clear career path wins more often than a slightly bigger number.
Two logistics workers in hard hats checking paperwork and a laptop beside stacked shipping containers

Heavy Industry, Energy & Port

West Limerick runs on the Shannon Estuary. Aughinish Alumina near Askeaton employs about 500 people, and Foynes had its busiest year on record in 2025, with tonnage up 10.8%. The 42km Limerick to Foynes rail freight line, a €151.5 million reinstatement, is due to open for freight in the first half of 2027.

  • Foynes record year · SFPC, 2025
What this means for employers: West Limerick roles need candidates who want West Limerick, not just a job. Since the Wyeth closure in Askeaton, some experienced operators and technicians want to keep working close to home.
A pharmacist helping an older customer choose a medicine from the shelf

Education, Health & Public Sector

Health and social work is Limerick’s second-largest sector, with just over 11,500 resident workers in Census 2022. University Hospital Limerick anchors the regional hospital group, while the University of Limerick, TUS and Mary Immaculate College are major employers in their own right, as are Limerick City and County Council and the public bodies based in the city.

What this means for employers: private-sector firms compete with the HSE and the universities for finance, HR, IT and administration people. Flexibility and a short commute often matter more to these candidates than salary alone.

A Changing Limerick Changes Who You Compete For

Growth creates opportunity. It also creates competition for the people who can deliver it. That’s where we come in.

Architectural rendering of the Opera Square public plaza in Limerick city centre, with new office buildings around a fountain square

Opera Square is the clearest current example. Limerick Twenty Thirty is turning a 3.7-acre city-centre block into an office, library, hotel and civic quarter, with room for up to 3,000 jobs at full build-out. Its first building, One Opera Square, is finished: an €80 million, 106,000 sq ft office block for around 1,000 people, delivered with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.

The rest of the site, including a 156-room Premier Inn, follows in phases, and the Cleeves Riverside Quarter is moving through planning across the river. It’s a multi-year build, but every floor that fills at Opera Square is another employer chasing the same finance, tech and operations people you’re trying to hire.

The Investment Behind Limerick’s Growth

€80m
One Opera Square, delivered with ISIF (Limerick Twenty Thirty, 2025)
3,000
Jobs Opera Square can hold at full build-out (Limerick Twenty Thirty)
€630m
Analog Devices R&D and manufacturing investment at Raheen (Analog Devices, 2023)
28,125
People employed by IDA client companies in the Mid-West (Dept. of Enterprise, 2026)

Limerick’s Talent Pipeline Runs Through UL & TUS

2,600+
UL co-op work placements every year (UL, 2024)
4,000+
Employers in UL’s co-op network (UL, 2024)
University of Limerick stone entrance sign in front of campus buildings, with autumn trees

Limerick’s candidate market isn’t only about attracting experienced people in. It’s fed constantly by its own colleges. The University of Limerick places more than 2,600 students a year with a network of over 4,000 co-op employers, so many graduates arrive having already worked in a lab, plant or finance team. TUS adds engineers, scientists and apprentices from its Moylish campus, and designers from the Limerick School of Art and Design.

Mary Immaculate College trains many of the region’s teachers, and UL’s research centres and international students draw people from well beyond Ireland. Plenty of those graduates leave for Dublin, London or further afield, then start looking for a way back. Knowing where Limerick’s people come from, not just where they work today, is part of how we build a realistic search strategy.

Sometimes the Right Candidate Isn’t Here Yet

Aerial view of King John's Castle and the River Shannon in Limerick, with Thomond Park and the Clare hills beyond

When a specialist role needs someone to relocate, the job isn’t the only thing on offer. Limerick offers career depth for less than Dublin or Cork, a regenerated riverside city centre, Thomond Park on match days, Shannon Airport 25 minutes away, and Lough Derg and the Ballyhoura hills close by.

The best targets are Mid-West natives in Dublin, the UK or abroad, and specialists who’d move for the right role. We know how to put Limerick in front of them.

From First Brief to Start Date

The same disciplined process behind every Limerick search, whatever the role.

  1. 01

    Discovery

    Understanding the role, the team and the Limerick candidate market before we start.

  2. 02

    Search Strategy

    Building the right approach around where your candidates actually are.

  3. 03

    Talent Sourcing

    Combining local networks with our 150,000+ candidate database.

  4. 04

    Screening & Assessment

    Structured interviews and motivation checks before anyone reaches your desk.

  5. 05

    Shortlist & Interview

    A shortlist built for fit, not just volume.

  6. 06

    Offer & Onboarding

    Support through offer, negotiation and start date.

Why Limerick Employers Choose Us

Hartley People and Burton Sinclair consultants in the boardroom at our Waterford head office
  • Access

    Direct access to Limerick candidates who aren’t actively job-hunting.

  • Time

    We manage sourcing and screening so you’re only meeting genuine fits.

  • Expertise

    Recruiters who understand Limerick’s key industries.

  • Reach

    A 150,000+ candidate network that goes well beyond the local market.

  • Flexibility

    Permanent, temporary and executive hiring from one relationship.

  • Search Capability

    SearchPLUS for the roles advertising alone won’t fill.

  • People + Technology

    Recruitment technology, run by experienced recruiters, not the other way round.

  • Munster Presence

    A Munster head office, not a Dublin desk working Limerick remotely.

What Our Clients Say

13,000+
Roles filled
1,100+
Clients supported

Munster-Based, Not Dublin-Bound

King John's Castle on the River Shannon in Limerick City under an orange sky

Hartley People has recruited from its Waterford head office since 2001. Limerick is about an hour and three quarters up the N24, close enough for our recruiters to come to you rather than manage you by email. Biopharma, medtech and engineering drive both regions, and we already work the Tipperary talent pool both regions share.

Hartley People Head Office
Unit 1B Cleaboy Business Park
Old Kilmeaden Road
Waterford, X91 DVY8
(051) 878 813
Get Directions→

Questions Limerick Employers Ask Us

Do you have an office in Limerick?

No. We cover Limerick from our head office at Unit 1B Cleaboy Business Park, Old Kilmeaden Road, Waterford, X91 DVY8, roughly 1 hour 45 minutes away via the N24. Our recruiters travel to Limerick to meet clients.

How long has Hartley People been recruiting?

Over 25 years. Hartley People was founded in Waterford in 2001 and has recruited across Ireland ever since, as a Munster-headquartered group with a second office in Dublin.

What are the best recruitment agencies in Limerick?

Rather than make that claim for ourselves, we’d point to what’s verifiable: 25+ years recruiting across Ireland, a Munster head office, and a track record in the industries that drive Limerick’s economy. We don’t have a Limerick office, and you should judge any agency on its own history and presence, not marketing copy.

What industries do you recruit for in Limerick?

We recruit across 19 specialisms in Limerick, including Life Sciences, Engineering, Manufacturing, Technology, Accountancy & Finance, HR, Sales, Logistics & Supply Chain and Executive Appointments, reflecting the industries that actually drive employment in the Mid-West.

Do you recruit across County Limerick, not just the city?

Yes. We recruit across Limerick City and its suburbs, Newcastle West, Kilmallock, Adare, Abbeyfeale, Rathkeale, Askeaton, Foynes, Croom and Caherconlish, and into the wider commuter market including Shannon, Ennis, Nenagh and Charleville.

Do you recruit for companies in Raheen and the National Technology Park?

Yes. Raheen and the National Technology Park at Castletroy hold many of Limerick’s biopharma, medtech and semiconductor employers, and knowing who works where across both is central to how we search.

Do you recruit in West Limerick (Newcastle West, Foynes, Askeaton)?

Yes. West Limerick is a different market from the city, built around the estuary and local manufacturing, so we look for candidates who actually want to work there.

Can you help us find candidates from outside Limerick?

Yes. We combine knowledge of the Limerick market with a 150,000+ candidate network and national sourcing, reaching people in Clare, Tipperary, Cork and Kerry, Mid-West natives ready to come home, and international talent.

Do you provide permanent recruitment in Limerick?

Yes, through Hartley People Recruitment: permanent hiring across all 19 specialisms, delivered from our Munster head office.

Do you provide temporary staff in Limerick?

Yes, through Flexiforce, part of the same group: temporary staffing, high-volume recruitment and workforce solutions for Limerick employers.

Do you recruit for life sciences in Limerick?

Yes. Limerick has a large biopharma and medtech base, and quality, validation, process engineering, automation and manufacturing roles are a core part of our work for the sector.

Do you recruit for tech companies in Limerick?

Yes. Semiconductor, electronics and software employers are a major part of Limerick’s economy, and we recruit process, equipment, test and software engineers as well as the technical managers who lead them.

Do you recruit engineers in Limerick?

Yes. Manufacturing is Limerick’s largest employment sector, and experienced engineers, maintenance technicians and operations leaders are rarely actively job-hunting, which is where our market knowledge matters most.

Do you provide executive search in Limerick?

Yes, through Burton Sinclair, our specialist executive search business, and through SearchPLUS for senior and hard-to-fill appointments within Hartley People Recruitment.

How do you find passive candidates in Limerick?

Through our 150,000+ candidate network, direct sourcing, LinkedIn Recruiter, market mapping and referral networks, combined with recruiters who understand who’s actually working where across Limerick and the Mid-West.

Can you help with difficult-to-fill Limerick roles?

Yes, through SearchPLUS, our specialist sourcing solution for difficult-to-fill, strategic and mid-to-senior appointments where advertising alone won’t reach the right candidates.

What does a recruitment agency in Limerick cost?

Fees depend on the seniority and complexity of the role and which service is involved: permanent, temporary or executive. Get in touch and we’ll talk you through pricing for your specific requirement, no obligation.

How quickly can you start a search?

It depends on the seniority of the role and how niche the requirement is. We’ll give you a realistic timeline once we understand what the hire needs to achieve.

Who Do You Need to Hire in Limerick?

Tell our recruitment team about the role, team or workforce challenge. We’ll talk through the Limerick candidate market, the people you need and the recruitment approach that makes sense for your business.

  • 25+ Years Recruiting in Ireland
  • 150,000+ Candidate Network
  • Permanent | Temporary | Executive

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