Citigroup to create 50 Irish jobs in €16m R&D centre expansion

INTERNATIONAL financial services giant Citigroup — or Citi — is to add another 50 people to its Irish-based workforce on the back of a $24 million (€16.4m) expansion here.

The expansion investment will be focused on its Dublin-based Research, Development, Innovation and Learning Centre & and will bring to around $100m the amount the company has invested in the area of R&D in Ireland. The new jobs will bring to 100 the amount of people employed in the centre. Overall, Citi employs around 2,000 people in its Irish operations — the majority of whom work in its Global Transaction Services business.

The chief executive of that side of the business and chairman of Citibank Europe, Francesco Vannid’ Archirafi said that the learning centre will enable the company to create “the next wave of financial platforms and solutions for the financial services industry”.

Citi was the first financial services company to officially partner with the Government here and aid it in bringing R&D projects to Ireland and its latest announcement has been warmly welcomed by IDA Ireland.

“The RDIL centre will further contribute to Ireland’s reputation as a leading European location for next generation research, development and innovation,” said IDA Ireland chief Barry O’Leary yesterday.

“Innovation is what will make the difference to Ireland’s goal of becoming a knowledge-driven and smart economy. Innovation is the theme at the heart of our new marketing campaign promoting Ireland as a destination for foreign direct investment and is designed to position Ireland as the pre-eminent location for companies who are seeking to invest in future innovation. This Citi RDIL centre is an excellent example of what is being targeted. In today’s extremely competitive world, business people are agreed that innovation is the primary source of sustainable competitive advantage,” Mr O’Leary added.

The new research centre at Citi’s Irish operation will work closely with numerous technology companies such as Microsoft and Cisco and its employees will consist of research specialists, analysts and technologists.