Feb 22, 2012

American Companies Moving to Ireland

American companies were were behind almost 40 percent of offices bought or leased in Dublin in 2011 and the trend is looking like inreasing in 2012

Paypal have just announced a new office in Dundalk - with 1000 staff and  Google , Salesforce and Yelp are looking for extra space in Dublin . Facebook is also seeking to more than double the size of its European headquarters in Dublin.

The financial crisis in  Ireland  drove down commercial property rents as well as lwages - making Ireland a much more cost-competitive destination .

Bill Clinton said that  Real estate in Ireland is "a steal"

A corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent is a vital part of the attraction for U.S. companies and new tax breaks are being offered to overseas workers who relocate to Ireland as the government seeks to attract more U.S. investment.

Google has 2,200 employees in Dublin  with an increase to over 3,000 expected.
LinkedIn, leased space in 2011 and has increased the number of employees to about 175 from 30 since last year, O'Leary said.

Facebook is seeking to more than double the size of its European headquarters in Dublin ahead of its $5 billion initial public offering and is considering leasing the former Bank of Ireland headquarters building. More than 350 people work at its Dublin office.

1 comment:

Hitchhiker42 said...

Ireland is attractive due to it's low corporation tax. I think the Germans & French want us to raise it, but the Irish government won't do it because it will make us a lot less competitive. Our economy is a bit tenuous at the moment, and it is a big deal when the news reports a loss 100 jobs.

Speaking from personal experience, I will say that a lot of American companies are moving their sales force here, but not their technology and development divisions. For example, LinkedIn is in Dublin, but they don't have any programming jobs.

It's one thing to say, "hundreds of jobs will be created" but quite another thing to say what those jobs actually are. If you are an accountant for an insurance company, and your company expands its sales force in Ireland, that's too bad. The jobs being created may not be the ones you fit.