Business-orientated social media network company, LinkedIn has acquired more than 17,000 sq m of new office space in Dublin, which will allow it the capacity to increase its Irish-based workforce by around 600 people over the coming years.
The Californian professional networking company has had an Irish base since 2010 and currently employs 600 people at its Wilton Place offices — which also act as its international headquarters.
The new site, also at Wilton Place, will give LinkedIn the capacity to grow its Irish-based employee base from 600 to 1,200 people in the future.
The company, however, gave no indication of timeframe for jobs growth nor the amount it had invested in the additional office space, when making its announcement yesterday.
“With 1.2m members, Ireland is now one of LinkedIn’s top markets when it comes to member penetration.
“For that reason, we are extremely pleased to be announcing a further investment in Ireland and an expansion of our operational presence here,” Sharon McCooey, senior director at LinkedIn Ireland said.
“Dublin is now home to a very vibrant digital technology sector and with that comes an important ecosystem for companies like ours as well as the strong pool of talented digital professionals that we need access to in order to further grow our operations in the future,” she added.
Construction work on the new international headquarters will begin next May, with building works expected to be completed at the beginning of 2017.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said that Ireland’s success in attracting such investments from the world’s biggest “born-on-the-internet” companies was “the envy of many countries”.
“This investment brings huge knock-on benefits for Ireland — including extra jobs in supply and service companies, as well as a huge boost to our reputation. Encouraging jobs growth in these world-leading companies is a key aim of the Action Plan for Jobs, and [the] announcement… is great news,” the minister added.
IDA Ireland also welcomed the news.
The agency’s new chief executive, Martin Shanahan, said: “LinkedIn’s investment speaks volumes about the talented workforce in Ireland.”