Jobs boost as services centres revealed

Ballybrit in Co Galway will spearhead the development of new software and cloud services for one of the world’s biggest technology firms, Hewlett Packard.

Meanwhile, Novartis announced that it is set to establish a regional business services centre in Dublin.

Galway has been chosen by HP as the site for a new 87,000sq ft facility, which will have capacity for up to 700 staff and support software, R&D, cloud innovation, and business services worldwide.

This is one of the largest industrial projects undertaken in Galway in recent years and it is expected that construction will start this year, once all planning hurdles have been cleared.

Executive vice-president of global technology and operations with HP, John Hinshaw, said that Galway manages to attract some of the sector’s top talent.

“Our facilities in Galway are proving to successfully attract some of the best and brightest talent in key IT growth areas for HP. We are pleased to announce an investment in a new state-of-the-art facility to support future development of new cutting edge technologies.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that the new facility would be a lifeline to the construction sector.

“The construction of a new state-of-the-art R&D building by HP is a testament to their Galway staff and operations in Ireland,” Mr Kenny said.

“The project will create 150 construction jobs during its development and will provide a much-needed boost for this sector.”

Novartis said that after examining locations around Europe, it had chosen Dublin for a regional business services centre providing services such as digital marketing, salesforce training, and medical writing.

A spokesperson for the company said that the new centre would result in 100 new jobs.

“With the development of the business services centre, we anticipate hiring approximately 100 employees this year for establishing a site infrastructure and for insourcing services, such as medical communications and digital marketing.”