Tech giant Microsoft is to create up to 550 jobs in Ireland over the next three to four years as the company invests heavily in its artificial intelligence (AI) operations.
The investment comes as Ireland has been chosen as a key location for Microsoft’s global AI innovation ambitions, aiding in the development of new technologies for its global operations and spanning some of the company’s key focus areas for the future.
The tech company said it would recruit for 120 jobs immediately. The jobs will be in software engineering, applied sciences, security research, product management and programme management, with about 15 to 20 per cent of the roles set aside for graduates or those early in their career. The remaining 430 jobs will be added in the next three to four years depending on customer demand.
James O’Connor, Microsoft Ireland site leader and corporate vice-president of Microsoft Global Operations Service Centre, said Ireland had been chosen because of the availability of talent, and noted that new recruits would play a key role for Microsoft.
Aside from creating teams in Azure networking and infrastructure, cyber security, investigating groundbreaking technologies and developing AI infrastructure, the teams will also create new AI-enabled products and internal solutions for Microsoft.
“They will be working on AI technologies as well as advancing and enhancing our cybersecurity capabilities,” Mr O’Connor said. “They are going to be working on core technologies across all our key products. This is really going to enable industrial-level AI innovation here across those functions and teams, and do it in a scalable way.”
The recruitment drive will bring to more than 4,000 the number of people employed by Microsoft directly in Ireland, with the total growing to 6,000 when LinkedIn is included. It also erases some of the overall losses experienced by the tech giant, which is celebrating 40 years in Ireland next year, when it was hit by the wave of redundancies seen in the tech sector in 2022 and 2023.
Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the investment. “Not only does this highlight Ireland’s attractiveness as an investment destination, it also promises a significant boost for the AI ecosystem in Ireland,” Mr Harris said. “Fostering AI skills and advancing capabilities in the field are core to the Government’s national artificial intelligence strategy, and this project will help develop new specialist skills and expertise, thereby positioning Ireland for further investment in this critical area.”
The jobs are being supported by IDA Ireland. Chief executive Michael Lohan said: “Ireland continues to prove itself as a location where the world’s most innovative AI companies build groundbreaking technologies.”
The move comes as tech companies continue to bet heavily on AI to help fuel the next phase of their business’ growth, investing in AI data centres in a bid to meet flourishing demand for the technology. Meta and Microsoft on Wednesday said their capital expenses were rising due to AI investments, while Google’s parent Alphabet said it would also continue to have higher spending.
Microsoft said capital spending rose 5.3 per cent to $20 billion in its first fiscal quarter, and predicted increased spending on AI in the second. On an earnings call Microsoft said its AI-powered Microsoft 365 Copilot assistant was experiencing the fastest adoption rate of any of its new suites, with almost 70 per cent of Fortune 500 companies using it already.
“Customer demand is significant and across the board with our Copilot offerings,” Mr O’Connor said. “I’m absolutely convinced it is completely transformative and it is transforming us right now in terms of productivity.”
Data centres are energy-hungry and employ few people, so why does Ireland need more of them?
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