IBM Ireland will hire an extra 200 sales and marketing staff at its dotcom centre in Dublin over the next three months in a major jobs boost for the technology sector.
The firm, which employs 4,000 staff in the Republic, announced in October that it needed 100 marketing staff but has now decided to hire another 200 people.
All the posts will be full-time, and the majority will be for sales and marketing positions in the IBM dotcom centre at its Mulhuddart technology campus.
Mr Larry Swan, IBM's human resources manager, said yesterday IBM had decided to locate several new missions in Dublin at the start of January. The new IBM staff would sell products into the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, he said.
Mr Swan said the firm expected a healthy response for the jobs because of the depressed state of the technology industry. Since advertising for the 100 posts during November, IBM has received 1,000 curriculum vitaes, he said.
IBM has already filled 65 of the first 100 positions that were advertised in November and expects to recruit the 230 extra staff by April, according to Mr Swan. He said 70 of the 300 jobs that were being sought were replacement positions for staff who left through natural attrition.
Mr Swan said the steep downturn in the technology sector was helping IBM Ireland recruit for its operations in the Republic.
"Since 1999 and 2000 we were sending recruitment staff to India to get staff for Mulhuddart," he said. "It's much easier now."
IBM Ireland is one of the biggest technology firms in the Republic. During peak times the company employs 4,000 full-time staff and up to 1,000 contractors.
Meanwhile, in an interview published in today's Irish Times, a senior IBM executive says that Mulhuddart is among several European locations being considered as a potential hub for a new unit.
Mr Patrick Toole Jnr, general manager of IBM's new engineering and technology services unit, says the Republic's central location between the US and Europe, the strength of its existing operations and the calibre of its staff are all reasons that the Mulhuddart site is high up on the list of potential sites.
Page 6: Ireland in running for plum IBM investment
