Aflac Northern Ireland (Aflac NI), a subsidiary of Aflac Incorporated, a leading Fortune 500 company, has officially marked its first year in Northern Ireland. The company has opened a new state-of-the-art hub at Belfast’s City Quays 2 and confirmed that with 65 employees now on board, it is well ahead of its three-year target to recruit 150 local tech staff by 2023.
A leading provider of supplemental insurance helping protect more than 50 million people in the United States and Japan, Aflac established its Northern Ireland footprint in October 2019 with the support of Invest NI, opening its first global technology innovation centre. The new office helps power the company’s international business, delivering world-class technical expertise and innovative, emerging solutions to increase information security and support the needs of customers.
Officially marking a full year since establishing an initial temporary office at River House in Belfast, Aflac NI has signed a 10-year lease with Belfast Harbour for more than 11,000 square feet of premium office space at Belfast’s City Quays to establish a Global IT and Cybersecurity Innovation Centre.
Aflac NI marked its achievements and its latest milestones as part of a global high-tech virtual celebration, incorporating executives, staff and stakeholders from Northern Ireland and the United States. Northern Ireland Economy Minister Diane Dodds also joined the celebration.
Economy Minister Diane Dodds said: “As the Minister responsible for the development and growth of Northern Ireland’s digital sector, I’m delighted to be directly involved in Aflac NI’s global celebration and to personally congratulate the experienced team here in Belfast for their contribution in delivering exceptional work, and their achievements in supporting Aflac’s growth.”
The Minister continued: “Despite these extraordinary global economic challenges, Aflac NI have made considerable achievements in a short space of time. These achievements, along with their recruitment ambitions and the talent they have already employed through the Assured Skills Academies, demonstrate just how attractive Belfast and Northern Ireland is as a highly-competitive destination for investment.”
Aflac NI is continuing to recruit ambitious, talented staff at a variety of levels to support its growth and remains focused on developing a highly creative and dynamic workplace culture. When fully operational, the premium jobs created at Aflac NI in areas including mobile and cloud development and intelligent surveillance technology will contribute around £7 million in salaries to the local economy.
“We’re pleased with the exceptional progress and success so far in Belfast and delighted with how well our teams are working on a global basis, delivering exceptional technical solutions that directly benefit our growing customer base,” Aflac Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and President of Aflac Group Insurance Virgil Miller said. “Our people and our culture are important to us, and with the local team we have on board in Belfast, we are confident that we made the right decision to invest in Northern Ireland.”
Established in 1955, Aflac currently employs around 4,700 employees in the U.S. and 11,000 globally. In addition to being recognised as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for 20 consecutive years, last year, Fortune also included Aflac on its list of the World’s Most Admired Companies for the 19th time.
“We have painted the words ‘Resilient, Reinventive and Adaptable’ on our office walls because that is the experience we have had in Northern Ireland, particularly as we initiated our program here immediately prior to a global pandemic,” Aflac NI Managing Director Keith Farley said. “Belfast has quickly become a part of the Aflac story, and we hope to play a part in Belfast’s story in return. We’re proud of our achievements in our first year – and we’re only getting started.”
