Ericsson has announced plans to hire 250 people at its Irish Research and Development Centre in Athlone to support the company’s ongoing development of innovative cloud-native products that orchestrate, automate and power its global 5G portfolio.

Cloud and mobile communication engineers

The highly skilled roles, which include opportunities for software developers, data scientists, architects, cloud and mobile communication engineers at all career stages, will be added over the next three years. 

One of Ireland’s largest employers within software development, Ericsson has had a Research and Development (R&D) presence in Athlone since 1979. The Athlone facility, which is the global R&D headquarters of Ericsson Digital Services OSS (Operations Support Systems), currently employs 1200 people developing its OSS and Cloud RAN (Radio Access Network) portfolio. Ericsson employs an additional 200 at its Dublin base.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD said: “This is really great news. Ericsson is expanding further, adding 250 new jobs to the 1400 the company already employs here. These new jobs are in new areas in cloud-native technologies, providing some really exciting opportunities for the midlands. It truly is a vote of confidence in Athlone and Ireland as a whole that such an internationally renowned company has chosen to make this investment.”

Denis Dullea, head of research and development at Ericsson Athlone said: “This announcement underscores our global reputation as a world-class R&D software development centre. Our team here already play a critical role in the development of Ericsson products, services and solutions that enable Ericsson to deliver limitless connectivity that makes the unimaginable possible.

“We are hiring an additional 250 software developers, engineers and architects with cloud native skills to enhance our capability to deliver the benefits of cloud native technologies to our global customer base via our RAN, Management, Automation and Orchestration offerings.

'One of the largest employers'

“The investment is also good news for Athlone and the wider midlands region, where Ericsson is one of the largest employers. With strong ongoing partnerships with the IDA, the government and the recently established Technological University of the Shannon, we are excited to continue attracting and nurturing the best and brightest Irish and international talent to the heart of Ireland.”

IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan said: “Today’s significant announcement by Ericsson, a company that has had a presence here in Ireland since 1957 and an R&D facility in Athlone since 1979 is terrific news and demonstrates this global leader’s continued commitment to its operations here.

"The next generation of technology developed at the Athlone facility will set the standard for the industry. These jobs and the associated investment will have a substantial impact on both the local and regional economy.” 

This project is supported by the government through IDA Ireland.