Microsoft has announced the creation of 600 jobs this morning at its European headquarters in Dublin.
The jobs are the latest boost to the economy following the announcement this week that US recruitment services firm Indeed is adding 500 jobs at its European base in Dublin.
Microsoft’s announcement today will also be welcomed after last week’s devastating blow to staff at HP Inc’s Leixlip plant in Co Kildare, where 500 jobs are to go.
Of the new jobs being created at Microsoft’s operations here, 500 will be at its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) sales centre.
The Inside Sales Centre in Dublin will serve customers across EMEA in over 30 different languages.
It has another 100 roles open in areas such as finance, operations, engineering and sales.
These new recruits will join the 1,200 people already working with Microsoft in the Dublin based EMEA Operations Centre, the European Development Centre, the Irish Sales and Marketing Subsidiary and at the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Data Centre.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was “delighted” that the relationship between Microsoft and Ireland has grown stronger.
“Today’s announcement underlines the strong commitment of Microsoft to its Irish operation and the strength of leadership of its Irish management team,” he said at the site on Friday morning.
Jobs and Enterprise Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor also spoke at the announcement at the Microsoft offices in Dublin.
“This latest investment, which brings an exciting new multi-skilled business activity to the company’s Dublin base, further enhances the company’s presence in Ireland and is vindication of the competitive advantage Ireland can offer,” she said.
Microsoft Ireland’s operations are headed by Cathriona Hallahan.
“Our CEO, Satya Nadella, is creating a culture of innovation and is bringing amazing technology to people with products like HoloLens and Surface Studio, with lots more to come,” she said.
“The team in Ireland has a long track record of helping the company to deliver against its vision and strategy and now there are opportunities for 600 more individuals to play their part in making the vision a reality.”
Microsoft has invested billions of euro in Ireland since it first set up operations here in 1985. The company, co-founded by Bill Gates, is building a new €134m campus in Dublin for 1,200 staff.
It has also spent more than €800m on its existing data centre operations at Grange Castle in the capital. That’s one of the biggest facilities of its type in Europe.
Last year, Microsoft got planning permission to build four huge data centres in Dublin that would likely represent an investment of as much as €900m, and involve 1,800 construction workers.
The company’s data centres here are used to support Microsoft’s cloud computing services. The 600 jobs being created by the company will also allay at least some concerns that US multinationals will delay overseas investments because of uncertainty regarding President Trump’s own plans and his calls for foreign-based jobs to be brought back to America.
US tech firms have “hit the pause button” on plans to hire staff here, according to a leading recruitment expert this week.
Tracy Keevans, of recruitment firm Morgan McKinley, said that since Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, her company had identified a reticence among US technology companies to invest in Ireland.
“A lot of the US tech companies that were thinking about expanding into Ireland have hit the pause button on their plans as a direct result of uncertainty related to President Trump,” she said.
Phama giant Eli Lilly has confirmed that it has postponed a planned €200m investment at its facility in Kinsale, Co Cork.The recruitment process for the newly created Inside Sales roles in Ireland has already started, but truly gets underway today
While many roles require previous sales or technical experience, the company is also seeking to recruit graduates with a few years’ experience who have the necessary passion and aptitude.
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