Sky to create 800 jobs over two years in new centre
MORE than 800 jobs will be created over the next two years by digital television giant Sky when it opens a new customer contact centre in Dublin.
Recruitment for the customer service, managerial, sales, support staff and human resources positions will start immediately -- with the first batch of new employees expected to start in August.
The new vacancies include full-time and part-time roles.
The company said that the majority will be full-time, but it would not give a breakdown. It will be a massive up-scaling of Sky's Irish operations as the company currently directly employs only 65 employees at its offices on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin. The customer contact centre will be situated at Burlington Plaza, off Burlington Road in Dublin 4.
Mark Deering, director of Sky Ireland, said the expansion was a sign of the broadcaster's commitment to Ireland.
"It reflects the growth of the company as a whole and we are focused on attracting new customers," he added.
Sky currently has 675,000 subscribers and accounts for more than 40pc of the household digital television market in Ireland. Mr Deering said the company had considered a number of different locations around the country before deciding on Dublin. He said: "Dublin was the right place," adding that it fulfilled a number of important criteria including a large population and pool of workers.
Mr Deering said a wide variety of jobs would have to be filled and said they would take applications from post-graduates and graduates as well as those with less experience.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton welcomed the announcement, saying it was "a vote of confidence" in the Irish workforce and economy.
"Confidence is key, and in the coming weeks the Government's Action Plan for Jobs will implement a series of measures to drive reform across the economy, ensure that more businesses can create more jobs and get growth and confidence back in to the economy again," he added.
Committed
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky, said he wanted to recruit a "committed and enthusiastic workforce".
"I'm delighted that we are opening a centre in Ireland. Our Irish customers are very important to our business and the creation of this customer centre will ensure they receive first-class customer service."
The contact centre will deal exclusively with Irish customers; currently, these calls are answered by centres in Scotland. Details of how to apply for vacancies can be found on www.skycustomercentres.com.
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- Breda Heffernan
Irish Independent
