Galway received a major jobs boost last evening when it was announced that insurance giant MetLife is to create 200 new positions at a Global Technology Campus in the city centre.
The move is a significant expansion of its Irish operations and the new Global Technology Campus in Galway will serve the role of supporting its customers and technologists around the world.
The new Galway Global Technology Campus will be home to more than 200 skilled IT professionals, and is expected to open in the first half of 2017, and recruitment will begin immediately.
It is understood extensive work will be carried out at the Hynes Building in the centre of Galway before the company commences operations there. Planning permission has been sought for extensive alterations to the building, including the addition of an additional storey on the existing premises.
MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and has described its expansion here as central to an effort to increase collaboration across its IT and customer support operations.
The campus is designed to help accelerate MetLife’s digital and innovation capabilities, creating new opportunities for technologists while maximising value for customers and shareholders. A primary focus at the Galway campus will be solutions that can be rapidly and efficiently scaled to markets around the world.
“The digital initiatives we will drive from the Galway campus are at the heart of our commitment to earning the right to be the customer’s first choice. Bringing together a wide array of technologists in a single hub will not only increase our operating leverage, but also accelerate our culture of collaboration,” said Marty Lippert, executive vice president and head of MetLife’s Global Technology and Operations organisation. “We thank the Irish Government, Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, and IDA Ireland for partnering with us.”
Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said he is delighted to welcome these 200 high-quality jobs associated with MetLife’s new Galway Global Technology Campus.
"This investment is supported by the Government and is in line with our Action Plan for Jobs to expand our financial services and technology industries across the country. The Government's aim is to add 200,000 new jobs to the economy by 2020 with 135,000 of those jobs outside of Dublin. I want to commend MetLife's commitment to Ireland and to Galway and we look forward to working with the company in the years to come to deliver on this new investment."
Also welcoming the announcement, Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said Ireland is uniquely positioned to become a leading global centre for Fintech investment, where global multinationals like MetLife could develop and implement their digital capabilities to their customers worldwide.
"The scale of this investment in a regional location demonstrates the confidence a global leader such as MetLife has in Ireland’s technology talent and business infrastructure. I wish all the MetLife team every success and offer the continued support of IDA Ireland.”
MetLife began its Dublin operations in 2006 with 10 employees and has grown to more than 300 highly-skilled employees. The Dublin operation oversees the provision of life and non-life insurance products in markets across Europe with supporting functions including actuarial, finance, compliance, risk, legal, and other support and management functions. The Dublin workforce also supports MetLife’s global and European, Middle East and African business through a fully operational financial services centre, MetLife’s first such centre of excellence outside the US.
All recruitment enquiries should be made to [email protected].
