WHEN IBM's new customer call centre opened this week, it gave form to a rising line on the graph of the nation's workforce. The 275 young graduates answering technical queries from across two continents and in four languages are part of a new niche for Ireland, one that's growing at a rate of a thousand jobs a year.

According to the latest April to April Labour Force Survey, the real jump in Irish employment came in the services sector. Since last year, 47,000 more people found work in services, the increase in industry was just 4,000. Manufacturing barely gained 1,000 employees. Already, the services sector has almost 800,000 workers more than double the total for industry.

Forbairt and IDA Ireland believe this trend is likely to continue. Three years ago they set about targeting teleservices as an area that could provide employment growth. It seemed almost ideal for Ireland geographic location does not matter, the workforce is young, well-educated, speaks English fluently and is desperate for employment.

The State agencies started from scratch and met all of their expectations. Since their push began in 1993, 42 foreign companies and several domestic ones have set up call centres here. They include some of the heavy hitters of the travel and computer worlds: Best Western and ITT Sheraton Hotels, Hertz car rentals, Dell and Gateway 2000 computers. They already employ some 3 500 people, at the current rate of growth these centres will have 6,000 workers by the end of the decade.

The latest glossy brochure from IDA Ireland sets out to prove that Ireland is the most competitive location in Europe for `call centres'. To make the case, it cites low operating costs, low corporate taxes and generous State incentives.

The Republic enjoys the cheapest toll-free telephone services in Europe, the brochure remarks, and Telecom Eireann intends to keep it that way. This month aware that telephone charges represent a massive 40 per cent of overall costs for call centres, Telecom Eireann reduced those prices by a further 20 to 35 per cent.

The IDA says this is backed up by investment in recent years totalling $2.2 billion in Telecom Eireann's infrastructure which gives Ireland one of the most advanced, feature-rich systems in Europe.

"With diverse fibre optic connections on all major European routes, it delivers crystal clear connections worldwide. Features include, for example, an intercontinental routing system designed for companies with international call centres which provides a toll-free capability between Europe and the US," the brochure argues.

In fact, Telecom Eireann was ahead of IDA Ireland. In 1990 the phone company quietly set up a US subsidiary, Telecom Iceland Ltd. base in Stanford, Connecticut. Since then, a team of five people have been cold-calling US companies, trying to persuade them to establish call centres in Ireland . Gerry O'Sullivan, corporate communications manager with Telecom Eireann says he works closely with IDA Ireland "This business is a jobs pipe. We're actually sucking the jobs into Ireland from abroad."

The benefits to Telecom Eireann's balance sheet are also clear: call volume grew in 1994 by 200 per cent, in 1995 by 600 per cent and in the past 12 months by 400 per cent. Mr O'Sulhvan is coy about just how much money this translates into, "That's competitive information. Let's just say we're talking multiples of tens of millions of minutes," he says.

By 1995, Ireland was well ahead of the pack when it came to inward investment in teleservices. Based on the number of jobs, the Republic's market share was 32 per cent. The Netherlands and Britain had 24 per cent each, while France, Germany and Luxembourg had between 6 per cent and 7 per cent apiece.

This year, which began with Ryanair and Forbairt announcing 220 extra jobs in the airline's new telemarketing project, will likely see a similar pattern.

In her brief speech at the IBM opening, Ireland's swimming heroine Michelle Smith said she wanted to pay special tribute to the country's education system and the foresight of its teachers: "When I was leaving school, the teachers told us that Information Technology and languages were the way forward. I'd like to congratulate them today."

IBM executives confirmed Ms Smith's assertions; the company had no trouble finding willing employees in Ireland who are capable of speaking more than one language fluently. Almost all of its new team are language graduates, and more than 70 per cent are Irish nationals. Also, confirming the trend outlined in the Labour Force Survey, 60 per cent are women.

By 1997, the firm said it would employ a total of 750 people in Blanchardstown For IDA Ireland, education is another forceful argument in attracting the call centres of more such companies: "The quality of Ireland's educational system, the availability and flexibility of a young workforce and the low rate of employee turnover combine to deliver true competitive advantage to business in Ireland."

Last month, at the behest of the IDA, Ballyfermot Senior College opened the country's first course in teleservices. Other colleges are scheduled to start similar courses next year.

But every silver lining has a cloud. Wages in the teleservices niche are low; on average £10,000 a year compared with average industrial earnings of £14,250. And Whilst working in a foreign language can hold the interest of a young graduate for a certain time, for many the repetition involved will gradually become mind-numbingly boring.

Added to this is the narrow scope for promotion; in many cases only the company's call-centre is located in Ireland, not its manufacturing, marketing or even sales headquarters.

At the new IBM site, where the annual salary is £12,500 plus a bonus, most of the new workers are aged 23 or 24 years. All have to sign fixed, four-year employment contracts.

Another factor likely to dissuade smart young graduates from choosing teleservices as a life-long career is the unsocial hours. At IBM, as in most of the other international call centres, the lines ring 24 four hours a day, 365 days a year. It means a myriad of rosters; the chances of drawing the one from nine-to-five, Monday to Friday, must be slim.

In private, executives admit they expect significant staff turnover.