Schlumberger Network Solutions, a global technology services firm, will create up to 200 jobs in Cork following a decision to pull out of a UK investment. The company will establish a technical service centre in Cork to support its customers.
The scale of the investment was not disclosed by Schlumberger but industry sources said it would probably be more than than $10 million (€11.5 million).
Mr Jim Page, vice-president of global service delivery for Schlumberg Network Solutions, said the company would recruit at least 60 people this year. This will increase next year and the site chosen will accommodate at least 200 staff.
He said the company had chosen Ireland as a location due to the availability of a skilled and multilingual workforce. He said the company had decided to close a similar facility in London.
The investment is a boost for Cork, which has suffered several closures recently including that of General Semiconductor in Macroom. Although final negotiations with IDA Ireland over grant aid for the project have not yet been concluded, it is expected the centre will be in operation by June.
Schlumberger has placed a recruitment advertisement in The Irish Times today and is understood to have made a commitment to locate its facility in the Republic.
It is believed the firm is in final negotiations to secure a suitable site for its support centre. Schlumberger has retained SkillsGroup International to manage the recruitment process. The firm is initially seeking staff for a number of key positions, including IT solutions centre manager, IT solutions centre team leader, project development analyst and infrastructure architects.
An IDA spokesman confirmed yesterday Schlumberger was at an advanced stage of negotiations with the agency and these should be concluded within six weeks. "The centre should be up and running by the summer and we have given it our full support and agreed to back the project," added the spokesman.
Schlumberger Network Solutions provides security and IT connectivity to firms. The new Cork centre will support customers with desktop, local area network and wide area network requirements.
Schlumberger Limited has headquarters based in Paris, New York and the Hague. It reported revenue of $13.7 billion in 2001.
The company is already operating in the Republic and last year won a contract with Eirtricity to supply billing software to help the company's expansion in the deregulated electricity market.
Schlumerger was not available for comment yesterday.
