SOCOTEC has committed to doubling its Irish workforce over the next four years, a hiring plan that adds engineering, fire safety, surveying and testing capacity for Irish construction projects amid growing demand for integrated compliance support.

SOCOTEC, a global testing, inspection and certification group operating in 26 countries and serving more than 200,000 clients, is launching its dedicated Irish website, socotec.ie, to bring its professional, technical and laboratory services together for the first time.

Its Irish base builds on the acquisition of Belfast-headquartered Lloyds Datum Group, a foundation testing and structural monitoring specialist, a new Dublin office focused on structural and fire engineering, an established fire engineering facility in Letterkenny, and planned investment in its air and emissions office in Naas, Co Kildare.

The recruitment drive will add technical engineers across engineering, fire safety, environmental, monitoring, surveying, laboratory testing and technical roles, with water flow monitoring and hydrographic surveys among services that could expand further depending on demand.

Nigel Dillon, managing director of LDG Lloyds & LDG Datum, who leads SOCOTEC's Ireland operations, said clients want one partner spanning consultancy, engineering, monitoring and testing, while SOCOTEC UK & Ireland CEO Matthew Marriott said the investment is about building a lasting, locally-led operation in Ireland rather than just a presence.

Doubling headcount in four years is as much a recruitment challenge as a market bet, given the scale of Ireland's wider construction skills gap.

Ireland needs to recruit up to 120,000 additional skilled construction workers and reskill a further 164,000 by 2030, according to research led by the Technological University of the Shannon, so firms expanding technical teams will compete for the same limited pool.

The Lloyds Datum Group deal in September 2025 gave SOCOTEC its first Northern Ireland office, so this announcement extends a footprint that already spans both jurisdictions on the island.

For the sector, integrated testing, inspection and compliance providers are scaling locally rather than serving Ireland remotely, which gives contractors and developers faster access to technical specialists but raises competition for the engineers those firms also employ.

Source: PBC Today / Ground Engineering / Irish Green Building Council