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Microsoft will create 200 highly skilled engineering positions in Dublin.
The hiring drive follows a € 27 million investment in a new 10,000 square meter engineering center near its main campus in Leopardstown.
The expansion will bring to 2,700 the total number of staff employed by the technology company in its offices and data center operations in Ireland.
Microsoft has already begun hiring for the new positions, which span areas such as customer software and engineering, program management, product design, user experience, and data science.
They will work on the development, implementation and support of cloud services and new technology for clients around the world.
The company already employs 600 engineers in Ireland.
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Microsoft Ireland CEO Cathriona Hallahan told RTÉ News that while the Covid-19 pandemic had driven significant business growth and a technological leap among customers, it is not the only reason for the investment.
“None of these investments in which millions of dollars are invested in a redesign comes specifically from one thing in particular,” he said.
“It’s about all of our clients, large and small, who are digitally transforming their businesses.”
“And that’s happening on a global scale. Obviously, Covid has helped accelerate that because technology is at the core of how we communicate now and how we connect and how businesses operate.
“So it is a factor, but it is not the only factor.”
Currently, almost all Microsoft employees continue to work from home due to the Covid-19 restrictions and Ms. Hallahan said that had brought challenges for employees.
Ms. Hallahan said the firm will continue to abide by the government’s rules until they are lifted, but will ask staff to return to the office after that.
“As soon as it is safe to get them back, we will return them,” he said.
The centerpiece of the new engineering center building is an area called The Garage, a space where Microsoft employees, as well as external partners, such as customers, academics and students, will be encouraged to innovate, experiment and create, as well as to fail.
In addition to a large collaboration space, it also includes a creator space with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters and a milling machine.
Although it is a physical space, The Garage will have digital programs running as long as the Covid-19 restrictions remain in effect.
Microsoft has another ten workshops in the US, Canada, Israel, India, and China, but this is the first to be developed in Europe.
The investment has been supported by the Government through IDA Ireland and has been well received by Tánaiste and the Minister of Business, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar.
Martin Shanahan, IDA’s chief executive, said this is exactly the kind of foreign direct investment his organization is trying to bring to Ireland.
“This has come at a really important time, it also shows that Ireland remains competitive, even in the midst of a global pandemic,” he said.
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