Apple has announced that it will create an extra 1,000 jobs to its Hollyhill site in County Cork, Ireland over the next 18 months — substantially increasing on the 5,000 employees the company currently has in Ireland.
The move is broadly in line with Apple’s overall workforce expansion, which has increased 25 percent over the past year.
While Apple has had a presence in Cork since November 1980, back when the Apple II was still a new computer, local residents had complained about Apple’s expansion plans, since these involved building a new four-storey property on the Hollyhill site. In 1980, the Hollyhill site had just 60 employees.
Apple was recently granted permission to move ahead with a new 500-acre data center site on the west coast of Ireland. The data center will help power Apple Music, the App Store, iMessages, Maps and Siri for customers in Europe. It is set to be one of Apple’s most environmentally-friendly developments yet.
Although Apple continues to come under fire for its tax practices in Ireland, it has shown no sign of lessening its investment in the country. Already Apple is the largest private employer in Cork with more than €100 million invested in the region since 2009.
Source: Irish Times
