150 jobs created at online payment company

INTERNATIONAL e-commerce company, PayPal — which facilitates online payments — has announced the creation of 150 jobs at its Dublin-based European operations and customer service headquarters in Blanchardstown.

The San Jose-headquartered company — which is ultimately owned by internet auction specialists, eBay — said it has begun hiring for the full and part-time positions in customer and merchant services at the facility.

The company added candidates must be fluent in English, with the possession of a second European language being preferable.

The jobs will complement PayPal’s existing operations here, which were established eight years ago.

The company employs 1,200 people at the European operations centre in Blanchardstown, which manages all direct customer contact for the firm’s businesses across Europe.

The European business achieved revenues of $1bn (€740m), for the first time, last year.

Louise Phelan — a senior director of PayPal’s European operations — said that the success the company has had over the course of the past two years has made it necessary to boost job numbers.

“Our continuing success story means that we need to expand our excellent team in Dublin for the fourth time in the last two years,” she said.

While the company has had a presence in Ireland since 2003, it invested €15m in its European Centre of Excellence in 2009, with the support of IDA Ireland.

Yesterday, the IDA said the latest jobs announcement provides “a key endorsement from one of the world’s leading online companies and builds on Ireland’s reputation as the internet capital of Europe”.

“The creation of a further 150 jobs — in addition to the more than 200 jobs it has announced in the previous two years — is great news both locally and nationally and underlines Ireland’s continuing ability to attract high-calibre foreign direct investment,” IDA chief Barry O’Leary added.

Meanwhile, a good day for job creation also included an announcement by the US-headquartered medical devices company, American Medical Systems Holdings (AMS).

The company said 50 jobs are being created via its establishment of a €4.6m facility in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

The company is a leading supplier of medical devices for the treatment of urological and pelvic health conditions.