Apple will add 1,000 new jobs to its Irish plant

Apple is to increase its Ireland headcount by a fifth to hit 6,000 employees by 2017, following the building of new office space.

The firm currently employs 5,000 people in its campus in Hollyhill, County Cork, and the new office space will provide room for another 1,000 employees.

The announcement was made by Industrial Development Authority (IDA) Ireland, the country's Ireland's inward investment agency, which said the new jobs come on top of 120 million Apple has plunged into the Cork plant since 2012.

It has been running operations in the city since 1980, and the plant has a range of functions including manufacturing, customer care, finance and global supply chain management.

"For any company to be located at the same campus for over 30 years is a remarkable thing that Apple continues to expand at this rate in 2015 is truly exceptional," said Martin Shanahan, CEO of the IDA.

"The scale of the operation in Hollyhill is vast, with manufacturing, supply chain, AppleCare and shared services operations taking place within one campus."

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that his government's priority is to "keep the recovery going by creating a positive environment for investment and jobs", adding that the new jobs follow another 1,000 created over 2015 to reach the current 5,000 count.

"This continued expansion by the company is testament to the quality of the talent pool, the infrastructure and the business environment that this country has to offer and further cements Apple as one of the leading employers in Ireland," Kenny said.

Apple declares most of its overseas profit in Ireland for tax purposes. Last year, the EU claimed that Ireland allowed firms such as Apple to shelter profits of tens of billions of dollars from revenue collectors in other countries in return for giving jobs to its population.

A decision on whether this constitutes unfair state aid is due after Christmas.

Should the decision go against Ireland, Apple may be forced to pay a substantial amount in back taxes to various governments in the EU.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.