Microsoft is to add 200 jobs at its Dublin operation, as the tech giant expands its digital sales team.
The new roles will bring to more than 2,800 the number of people employed by Microsoft at its Leopardstown campus and its Irish data centre operations.
The company is planning to fill the positions by May, with Microsoft recruiting for sales representatives, technical sales specialists, cloud solution architects, account executives and sales managers. The EMEA digital sales centre currently employs more than 1,000 people, growing from an initial 500 when it was set up in 2017.
The roles will support customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with Microsoft seeking candidates fluent in languages including English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian and Spanish.
Lisa Dillon, Microsoft's vice-president of EMEA digital sales, said the expansion was needed to meet customer needs. "The EMEA digital sales team leverage Microsoft technologies, including AI and machine learning, and enhance them with digital selling capabilities to transform our engagement with customers. This allows us to meet and exceed the needs of our customers and partners, engaging them at the right time in their digital journey to help drive their business success."
Success
The announcement comes only a matter of months after Microsoft said it was creating 200 engineering roles at its Leopardstown campus, investing €27 million at its engineering hub.
"We are delighted to be in a position to announce the further deepening of our footprint in Ireland, " said Cathriona Hallahan, managing director of Microsoft Ireland. "Following so soon after our engineering investment, it highlights the importance of our Irish-based operations to Microsoft globally. The growth of our EMEA digital sales team reflects the dynamism and growth mindset that is at the heart of our company. Our existing digital sales team has been working hard to provide organisations in Ireland and across Europe, the Middle East and Africa with digital technologies they need to transform their business model and achieve success."
Some 25 of the roles are for the Microsoft Sales Academy, a six-month training programme that takes recruits from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skillsets and provides them with the skills to establish a career in digital sales.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomed news of the expansion. “In the coming months, we will be focusing on delivering a recovery that is both inclusive and sustainable, central to this will be getting people back to work and protecting and creating employment fit for the future,” he said. “Attracting highly sought-after digital jobs like those created by Microsoft today is an important step in that journey.”
