Apple has confirmed it will expand its European base in Cork, creating 500 jobs over the next 18 months in the process.
RTÉ news reports that Apple will build a three-storey office block beside its current base in Cork City in order to expand its business in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.
By creating these 500 new jobs, the company will boost its current workforce in Cork to 3,300. Apple set up its plant in Holyhill, Cork, in 1980 and it was its first base outside of the US. This HQ has since seen 55pc year-on-year growth in revenues and in the markets it serviced in the last quarter of 2011.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton welcomed the jobs announcement, saying his department and the IDA have been involved in the project for several months, which included meetings held by Bruton with Apple in the US and Ireland.
“The announcement that Apple, one of the world’s leading companies is expanding its operations in Ireland and creating 500 new jobs, is a huge boost for the country,” said Bruton.
“It is a great testament to the company’s workforce, a great vote of confidence in the future of our economy, and it shows what is possible for Ireland at the heart of a stable Europe,” he said.
