ICL, the information technology systems and services supplier, is expanding its Irish operations with the recruitment of 260 people in Dundalk, Co Louth and Dublin, while Siemens, the electronics firm, is to create 150 jobs at a new call centre in Cork.
ICL's new software development centre in Dundalk will take on an additional 160 employees, while 100 more will be needed for an expansion of its Dublin headquarters at Harcourt Street. Both initiatives are backed by IDA Ireland but no figure was disclosed for the size of the investment.
The centre in Dundalk will develop products for both Irish and overseas corporations and most of the jobs will be for software developers.
A spokesman for the company said ICL expected significant increases in its international client base to "drive much of the growth" at the Dundalk facility. The centre will open in May and a recruitment programme has started.
Among the services ICL offers are helpdesks, networking, Inter/ intranets, electronic commerce, interactive kiosks and smart card systems.
The Dublin office concentrates mainly on sales and training services. Increasing demand for training and diverse IT services from Irish and international companies is the main reason for its expansion, the company said.
"At our current rate of growth this latest investment will bring the number of staff employed by ICL in Ireland to 1,000 by the middle of 1999," said the managing director of ICL Ireland, Mr Brian Baird.
The spokesman said ICL selected Dundalk because of an available pool of skilled labour. "While we have not experienced skill shortages as yet, we still wanted to spread ourselves in more than two locations to ensure we have access to the most skilled people," he said.
ICL suffered heavy losses for most of the early 1990s, but reversed these in 1997 under a new owner, Fujitsu. It changed from being a hardware manufacturer to an IT services provider and now plans to re-list on the London Stock Exchange next year.
The Siemens call centre in Cork will support Siemens's European sales team and also several e-commerce initiatives. Siemens customers throughout Europe with pre or post-sales enquiries will be channelled through the Cork centre.
The majority of the jobs will be for multi-lingual staff and recruitment has commenced. The centre will be located adjacent to Siemens's existing Cork office at Penrose Quay.
Making the announcement yesterday, the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said there had been competition for the call centre contract from Germany, Britain and the Netherlands.
Siemens Ireland currently employs 600 people here and has an annual turnover of £130 million (€165 million). It has 17 service centres in Ireland and is involved in a wide range of activities, including training and professional services. Siemens worldwide employs 416,000 people with turnover for year to September 30th, 1998 of £47 billion (€59 billion).
