Amazon to create a further 1,000 jobs in Ireland

Image source, Keith Arkins

Image caption, Taoiseach Miche谩l Martin (left) meets Amazon Web Services (AWS) Ireland country manager Mike Beary (centre right), AWS Ireland head of public policy Niamh Gallagher, and IDA Ireland chief executive, Martin Shanahan

E-commerce giant Amazon is to create another 1,000 jobs in the Republic of Ireland over the next two years.

The new roles will be based in Dublin and Cork and brings Amazon's total Irish workforce to 5,000.

Amazon also said it is investing in a new 170,000 square foot campus in Charlemont Square in Dublin city centre.

The new campus - to open in 2022- will house Amazon Web Services' growing cloud computing workforce.

T谩naiste (deputy prime minister) Leo Varadkar said Amazon's announcement is a huge vote of confidence in Ireland's economy and workforce as it recovers from the economic crisis caused by Covid-19.

"It speaks to our ambition to make Ireland the tech capital of Europe," he said.

"It demonstrates our ability to continue to attract high quality jobs in growth sectors like digital."

Image source, Reuters

Image caption, Amazon's new Dublin city centre campus will be home to its growing Web Services' cloud computing workforce

Mike Beary, Amazon Web Services Ireland country manager, said the company has been investing and growing in Ireland for more than 15 years.

The first of Amazon's wind farm projects in the Republic will also come online in September.

The Esk wind farm in County Cork will be Amazon's first operational renewable energy project outside the US, which will deliver clean energy to the country's electric grid.

The company said the wind farm will also help it meet its commitment to power its global operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 as part of its goal to reach net zero carbon by 2040.