GATEWAY 2000, the American computer company, is to create 1,200 jobs in north Dublin over the next three years. The Gateway expansion is the first of a number of employment announcements due in the next few weeks which are expected to provide a total of more than 3,000 jobs.
Gateway 2000, which currently employs 1,100 people, is, investing £25 million to double the size of its existing European headquarters in the Dublin suburb of Clonshaugh. The investment is being supported by IDA Ireland, the state agency responsible for attracting foreign investment, which has already paid about £10 million to Gateway since 1993.
IDA Ireland is also expected to announce the creation of another 2,000 new jobs over the next three weeks in a number of medium sized enterprises in the health care, electronics, engineering and services sectors.
A spokesman for IDA Ireland said that new project approvals for the first quarter of 1996 were in line with last year, which was a record for the agency.
However, in contrast to the Gateway announcement and the expected jobs bonanza from foreign owned firms, about 300 jobs may be lost later this week at the Keytronic plant in Dundalk.
Keytronic, which makes computer keyboards and employs about 400 people, has been hit by competition from lower cost producers in the Far East. However, even if the Keytronic jobs do go, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, who is to visit Dundalk tomorrow, will confirm a new 200 job enterprise for the town.
Announcing the Gateway expansion, Mr Bruton said that the company was an excellent employer which had made a huge economic impact since beginning operations in 1993.
Since setting up in Ireland, according to Mr Bruton, Gateway has contributed £400 million to the economy in terms of wages, taxes and the purchase of Irish components, supplies and services.
Gateway had sales of $400 million in Europe last year, and the company's success proved that Ireland was the perfect "gateway to Europe" for foreign companies, Mr Bruton said.
Gateway 2000 is what is known as a direct computer seller, as its products cannot be bought in shops. Its personal computers (PCs) are sold through advertisements which carry a free phone number for customer inquiries and orders.
All telephone calls the company receives in the nine European countries in which it operates are automatically routed to the Dublin plant, where they are answered by multilingual staff. The company has a combined telemarketing and manufacturing facility in Dublin. Once a telephone order is taken, the PC is assembled to match the customer's specification.
Recruitment has already begun. About 700 of the new employees will work in the telemarketing sector, while the remaining 500 jobs will be in manufacturing.