MICROSOFT is to create 380 construction-related jobs in Ireland as it expands its data centre in Dublin.
The expansion of the company's Clondalkin, Co Dublin, base will also see the firm take on an extra 20 people as it expands its team there to 80-people next year.
Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore welcomed the news and said Ireland could become the Cloud Centre of Excellence and the country of choice for datacentre investments.
“Microsoft contributed greatly to this strategy when it chose Ireland as the home for its first mega datacentre outside of the United States,” he said.
“We realised that the factors that influenced that decision were key differentiators that could also attract further investors.”
The company said the €170m expansion to its Europe, Middle East and Africa mega datacentre will be completed in the spring.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton also supported the announcement.
He said: “Big data is a sector which offers great potential for Ireland, and which we have targeted as part of our Action Plan for Jobs. In recent years we have seen some major announcements in this sector.”
Construction has already begun and will create 380 building related jobs.
