Internet giants Yahoo and McAfee set to hire 260 people at Irish bases

Internet technology giants Yahoo and McAfee are to hire 260 people over the next few years.

Yahoo yesterday said it would be adding 200 jobs at its Dublin operations centre while online security firm McAfee said 60 jobs are to be filled by the end of next year at its European headquarters in Cork.

Yahoo said it was already hiring for positions in customer support, technology, operations, human resources, and finance, with successful applicants helping the company’s business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was due to visit the Yahoo campus in Sunnyvale, California, said the news meant Ireland was “becoming the internet capital of Europe”.

He also welcomed the announcement of the 60 positions that will become available on a phased basis at McAfee’s Citygate facility in Mahon, Cork.

“The creation of 60 high-quality jobs in McAfee’s new global R&D centre of excellence is a fantastic announcement for Ireland’s growing digital industry and for the people of Cork,” said Mr Kenny.

The jobs are supported by the Department of Enterprise through IDA Ireland.

Paul Walsh, McAfee’s vice president of engineering, said work was under way on filling the first 20 positions available. He said the company was looking to hire a mix of experienced developers and software engineers and graduates.

The company already employs 342 people in Cork and one position which may become open is a slot on the company’s global threat intelligence team.

Mr Walsh said there would be an expected 20bn connected devices around the world by 2020, meaning the need for security was greater than ever.

The company is setting up a worldwide centre of excellence for enterprise security in Cork and will create a number of small specialised “scrum” engineering teams that will design and build new features for its key enterprise customers.

The last of the 60 positions will be filled by the end of next year.

IDA Ireland chief executive Barry O’Leary said: “The establishment of this new worldwide centre of excellence in Cork is a significant addition to McAfee’s presence here.”

*insidemcafee.com