The company was essentially purchased by a private equity firm and now they're taking the intellectual property and moving it to Northern Ireland with much cheaper employees. This used to be a great place to work, but with the constant layoffs and steady stream of people leaving it should be easy to uproot the company offshore.
There is no concept of upward mobility for employees in the main office. For the most part, the position you're hired into is the one you will maintain until you leave or are laid off.