CITIBANK has already begun recruiting 450 employees for a new processing and customer services centre in Dublin, the company said yesterday. Depending on the success of the business, the number of workers could rise to 1,000, the bank added.
In the IDA Ireland backed project, Citibank will set up a "back office" operation in the former Bord na Mona building on Baggot Street. Announcing the news, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, said a wide range of skilled jobs would be on offer, with almost half reserved for people with college degrees or diplomas. One fifth will need fluency in a foreign language, he added.
In the past fortnight, the company has advertised anonymously in The Irish Times. Mr Bob Kelly, who will run the centre, said Citibank had received over 2,000 CVs, including three where the candidate spoke fluent Japanese and one who could speak Mandarin Chinese.
Citibank, which already runs one of the largest banking operations in the International Financial Services Centre, said the new centre would support the bank's global transaction service.
This would include the management of transactions relating to client cash movements, European securities services and international trade, and provide a customer support service.
Mr Bruton, who led a team to New York to seal the deal, said Citibank had, as part of a global strategy, selected a number of sites across the United States to locate regional processing centres for securities, trade and cash operations.
"In applying this regional concept to Europe, Citibank examined a number of locations throughout the EU for its second major processing centre. Dublin won out, in spite of powerful competition," the Minister continued.
Although the IDA would not reveal how much grant cash it had to promise Citibank, a spokesman for the agency said the average amount for such skilled occupations was £8,500 per job.
The bank's chief executive in Ireland, Mr Aidan Brady, said the jobs subsidies were not the deciding factor for Citibank: "The grant package is attractive, but no more attractive than other countries. We feel the grants will have been paid back in PAYE and PRSI within a year.
"We see Ireland as providing the best overall package - quality young people, telecommunications, and enthusiasm. That package is at a competitive pre compared to other countries," Mr Brady added.
In its recruitment drive, Citibank was looking for both school leavers and college graduates who were computer literate, were bright and had good communications skills. Some would need fluency in a foreign language, he said. He expected the centre to be in full swing within four years, and planned to expand the Dublin operation with the business.
Asked would new jobs in Ireland mean lay offs for Citibank employees elsewhere in the world, Mr Brady said that while 110 people in New York would lose their jobs, and some in Britain and other European countries, most of the work would be generated by an expansion of the bank's business.
