Microsoft is to create 200 engineering jobs in Dublin, expanding its existing 600-strong team and opening a €27 million engineering hub at its Leopardstown campus, bringing the total number employed by Microsoft in Ireland to more than 2,700.
The new jobs will support the development, deployment and new cloud services and emerging technology solutions for Microsoft’s global customers.
The company has already begun recruiting for positions in software and customer engineering, programme management, product design, user experience and data science, with the roles split between its global modern workplace transformation and Microsoft identity teams.
‘Coup’
Managing director of Microsoft Ireland Cathriona Hallahan said the investment was "a real coup" for Ireland and will help put innovation at the forefront for Ireland. "It is a significant investment," said. "There's a raft of different skillsets that we will be bringing into the engineering function. The opportunity to helps customers transform in the new digital era that we are all living in, these engineers will be at the forefront of that."
The new staff will be based at One Microsoft Court, a 10,000sq m facility beside the flagship One Microsoft Place designed to follow Microsoft’s engineering workspace principles. It also gives the company further space to expand if needed in the future.
“We wanted to redesign a building that was specifically for engineering at its core,” said Ms Hallahan. “The idea was that we would create that inspiring, accessible environment for engineers so they could innovate, collaborate and learn from one another. That’s what the space is delivering for us.”
The building also includes a dedicated innovation space, called the Garage. The Dublin Garage is the first one in Europe, joining the original one established at Microsoft's Seattle campus and 10 other worldwide locations including Canada, Israel, India and China.
Challenges
The physical space allows employees to work on ideas using technology to solve a range of societal or business challenges, facilitating collaboration amongst employees, customers and partners.
“It’s a new facility where we’ll see creators and maker come and innovate, try things and fail, learn from that, experiment on different projects that they might be passionate about,” said Ms Hallahan. “The intent is that we will be able to collaborate, not just internally, but bringing customers, partners, academia and students into that space. It will be available to the broader community when things open up.”
She said the decision to locate the first European Garage in Ireland showed the importance of the site in Ireland and the continued investment by the company in Ireland as a strategic location.
Commitment
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar welcomed the jobs news.
“This is great news from Microsoft today. Not only are they creating 200 new jobs, but they are also creating a new €27 million engineering hub. This investment builds on decades of commitment by Microsoft in Ireland and further strengthens the country’s position as a centre for innovation in Europe,” he said.
“Our focus in the months ahead will be to rebuild Ireland’s economy in a manner that will be sustainable. We need to protect and create in-demand jobs fit for our digital age. A growing engineering talent pool is crucial in helping to imagine and create the solutions that Ireland will need to rebuild and recover. By positioning Ireland as a leader in engineering, we can help enhance Ireland’s competitiveness into the future.”
The investment is supported by the Government through IDA Ireland.
"Today's announcement by Microsoft demonstrates not only the company's continued commitment to Ireland but also the attractiveness of Ireland's value proposition despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic," said Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland. "The new engineering jobs announced by Microsoft will help shape the future of our economy and ensure that Ireland remains at the forefront of technological innovation globally."
