A TOTAL of 150 jobs are to be created with the announcement that American software company Bentley Systems is to open an office in central Dublin.
Some 35 Irish employees have already been recruited by the company which provides software for infrastructural projects such as bridges, stadiums, hospitals and public buildings.
The company has begun recruiting for additional staff in the fields of multilingual finance and administration, sales and marketing, and technical support and product engineering.
Bentley Systems, headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, was founded in 1984 and employs 2,700 people worldwide.
It is one of the world’s largest privately owned software companies, with 50 offices worldwide. In 2008, its revenues totalled €500 million.
Although the company’s products have been used in Irish infrastructural projects such as the Aviva stadium, the West-Link bridge and some of Dublin’s largest apartment complexes, its Dublin office will provide software support to the company’s customers across the globe, particularly the Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) region.
Chief executive Greg Bentley said that the company has not been adversely affected by the downturn in the construction industry, despite the fact the company’s key customers are in the engineering, architectural and construction industries.
“Infrastructural projects are still seen as key investments, and our company is not involved in residential development. We are also in the position that our company has no net debt.”
Mr Bentley cited Ireland’s skilled workforce and its pro-business policies as two of the key factors which attracted the company to Dublin.
Speaking at the job announcement yesterday, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan said the decision by Bentley to establish its services centre in Dublin was testament to the strength of the ICT sector in Ireland.
