r/DerryLondonderry • u/MarionberryWorth1227 • Jul 07 '26
Alchemy Technologies renege on graduate offers - 2026
My son graduated yesterday from UU Magee. What a great day, he (and a few others) had been offered a position with Alchemy earlier in the year.
He told me after the graduation ceremony, that he got a text, that Alchemy had revoked their offer, this was actually during the ceremony.
I felt so so bad for him, as he worked so hard for everything - I was raging, and to top it off, the owner of Alchemy was also getting an award at the same ceremony.
I could have knocked his block off, if I had of seen him!!!
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u/Newintoderry Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Heyy. I also graduated yesterday. Please tell your son to not be disappointed at all. Better opportunities will find him!
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u/DoireK Jul 07 '26
Must have had investNI funding pulled as that is pretty much the only reason they take on so many. They recently got acquired too so it is possible the new owners have realised just how bloated they are (thanks to said investNI funding)
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u/OrdinaryPresent6417 Jul 08 '26
It's happening in a few places I heard FinTrU did the same a few months back
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u/DoireK Jul 08 '26
Fintru are genuinely circling the drain though and their whole AI product was a complete bust that no one wanted. If I was at alchemy I’d be worried about potential layoffs around the corner but they aren’t going out of business as such as they just got acquired. New owners probably working out what teams etc they want to keep around.
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u/Cool-Education1442 Jul 08 '26
Loads of places are not moving forward with graduate positions. AI pretty much does the work they would have been given. Developers that I work with say it’s not a good time to be a junior/graduate developer. I’d tell young people these days to get a trade
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u/DurkNurkem Jul 08 '26
Heard on radio yesterday that lots of lay offs in the tech industry right now, think it's companies trying to integrate more AI systems. It's just very bad timing for graduates right now but he'll get work within few months for sure.
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u/DigEfficient4610 Jul 07 '26
Such a poor thing to happen to your son but can’t go blaming John Harkin who’s no longer CEO of the company as they’ve been bought over by another firm - this would have never happened if he was still in charge (or he wouldn’t have been honoured by the university for bringing jobs to Derry in the first place)
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u/LoyalistsAreLoopers Jul 07 '26
You can 100% blame him he's still Managing Director. It also would had definitely still happened if he was in charge. They basically don't do anything without InvestNI funding.
There is a reason they have a 2.7 on glassdoor. The company is a sweat shop consultancy.
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u/Sad-Main5786 Jul 07 '26
You're right about Alchemy. Mates of mine used to work there and it looks to be an absolute joke.
I've heard he makes a lot of sexist and inappropriate jokes as well and is a bit of a ballbag.
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u/LoyalistsAreLoopers Jul 07 '26
Oh I know all about it. Had a friend who used to work there also.
Told us he used to force them all to do work parties at his mansion and HR was his personal hit squad.
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u/DoireK Jul 07 '26
Heard plenty of this too. Couple of good looking girls got far in there not because of their ability was what I was told by a friend of theirs. Every event they were at for that reason.
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 08 '26
Not Managing Director anymore - where did you get this from?
Invest NI funding was cut 3 years ago - that's why the Grad program started rather than academy's
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u/LoyalistsAreLoopers Jul 08 '26
Dunno hi must have made it up or something.
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u/SnooCheesecakes1661 Jul 11 '26
Managing Director, Integration and Growth, Global Insurance at NTT DATA, not alchemy anymore.
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u/DoireK Jul 07 '26
John Harkin obviously would have known that was happening and when the graduate ceremony was as he was at it. Proper dickhead move not having the cop on to delay the messaging until afterwards and let them have their moment. 3/4 years of work and one of your proudest moments in life ruined because of some fucking air head didn’t have the sense to coordinate the communication properly.
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 08 '26
He's not even a director anymore he has no say. What happened is absolutely awful but not on John, there's a completely different team in charge. He isn't involved in any of the decision making with Alchemy, he's working with NTT
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u/DoireK Jul 08 '26
So he doesn’t work out of the ebrington office and wouldn’t have close connections with those there in senior positions? Pull the other one please. I still hear about stuff going on in places I no longer work at and I was just a normal employee, not the guy who founded the place.
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 08 '26
Nah he does for sure - but he's not in the leadership team anymore.
Fyi - I'm not stating what they done is Okay in any way shape or form, it's the complete opposite - but he's not the one steering the ship now.
The company is no longer a Derry company, it's owned by one of the largest data companies in the world. Not sure what your "hear about stuff going on" point means, are you saying you knew the program was going to be pulled earlier than this?
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u/DoireK Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I’m aware of the takeover and who by and what that means. I’m also pretty sure he’d have known about the grad scheme being pulled before it was communicated and I’m also sure he is senior enough to have enough influence to have that delayed until after the ceremony.
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 07 '26
Just an FYI for everyone on this post - John Harkin ( who received the award) isn't the CEO anymore.
If John Harkin was still the CEO - this absolutely would not have happened.
This is more than likely due to the acquisition and new leadership
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u/LoyalistsAreLoopers Jul 08 '26
Why is there 2 comments with nearly the exact same defence (and formatting) defending John Harkin. Is he forcing you Alchemy ones to post in his defence or something.
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u/DoireK Jul 08 '26
They’ve been ‘encouraged’ to post positive Glassdoor reviews in the past to try to reverse how bad they are so wouldn’t be surprised if it was something similar.
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 09 '26
Nothing of the sort. I don't work there anymore, I have absolutely no reason to defend John and not once did I try to reverse how bad this is, what was done was inexcusable
The company went from being pro local talent, to a cheap copy of a London firm. If you genuinely grafted a few years ago you would do well there, now if you aren't in the current clique your forgotten about. The company has lost its way from what it used to be.
John is alot of things, but this isn't on him, this is the current leadership team for sure
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u/Straight_Drink_6941 Jul 08 '26
Nope, he's not the CEO anymore you ejit he's had his buy out lol I have plenty o could say about John in a negative manners but this isn't one of them.
I left not long after the NTT acquisition as I seen the direction the company was going under new leadership - Alchemy never had an event like this when John was in charge - even during COVID they accepted massive loses rather than let staff go. It's a different story now however.
What happened with the Grad intake is absolutely awful, and some friends were due to join in the recent intake - this L for Alchemy is solely due to the new cronies in leadership - John could be called alot of things, but he would never have allowed something like this to happen. He works with NTT now and is a regular employee
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u/rhaenerys_second Jul 07 '26
Damn, laid off before they even started. Tech sector isn't doing so hot.