US-based electronics multinational Compaq is to set up a call centre in Dublin, which will create 550 jobs within three years. The IDA-backed £6.25 million investment, will be operating by the end of the year, and employ 340 people initially.
The announcement brings to more than 4,000 the number of people employed in teleservices. It follows a string of teleservices announcements last year including projects by Hertz, Digital and Oracle.
Around 50 per cent of the jobs will be aimed at graduates, according to Mr John Dolan, Compaq's vice president of customer services, Europe. The centre will provide around the clock service for Europe in 15 European languages. Compaq reckons it will handle around 4.5 million calls per year.
The new centre will bring together Compaq's 15 call centres, currently located all over Europe, into one centralised technical support operation. The sales and marketing aspects of the work will continue to be carried out in those countries.
Compaq is currently restructuring its operations and says it will cost around £19 million to reorganise the European network. The company says very few jobs will be lost by relocating the operation to Dublin. Employees will also be offered the choice to come to Dublin.
Compaq is the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world and its decision to locate in Ireland means that the world's top five PC companies now have a presence here. They include IBM, Apple, Gateway and Dell.
Compaq already has a small sales force in Ireland and claims to be second in the PC sales market here, having sold more than £24 million worth of goods last year.
The company also buys £125 million worth of computer components in Ireland for its worldwide operations.
Compaq said the call centre would use state-of-the-art technology platforms for items such as computer telephony integration and world wide web technologies.
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, described Compaq as a blue chip company, adding that its decision to locate in Ireland was a tribute to the effectiveness of government policies on competitiveness and education and is a special recognition of the abilities of the young Irish workforce".
Founded in 1982, Compaq sells its computing solutions in 85 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Last year Compaq's European operations contributed $6 billion (£3.75 billion) out of Compaq's worldwide revenues of $18.1 billion (£11.3 billion). Earnings were $1.3 billion, compared with $14.8 billion and $789 million in 1995.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Eckhard Pfeiffer, president and chief executive of Compaq, said the company's improved profitability in 1996 was helped by more efficient handling of stocks.
He said the company is aiming for revenues of $40 billion by 2000, representing a compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent from 1996.
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