A digest of the top business and technology news stories from the past week.
Recruitment firm creates 100 new tech jobs in Dublin
International executive search consulting firm Spencer Stuart is to create 100 new technology jobs over the next five years in software development, IT support services and data quality.
Spencer Stuart is one of the world’s leading executive search consultancy firms. Privately held since 1956 and employing more than 1,200 workers, the firm applies extensive knowledge of industries, functions and talent to advise clients and address their leadership needs.
Spencer Stuart consultants in 51 offices across 27 countries focus on senior-level executive search, board director appointments, succession planning and in-depth senior executive management assessments.
The new global technology and knowledge centre in Dublin will be responsible for research, design, development, deployment and ongoing research and development for system and business process improvement for the organisation.
US call-centre firm to create up to 400 Dublin jobs
A US firm which provides call-centre services, Stream Global Services, is to create up to 400 jobs in Dublin.
The firm has won a contract with Microsoft to support Xbox 360 customers in the European market.
Earlier this month, Stream announced that it had landed a “multi-year agreement with a leading manufacturer of video game consoles to deliver customer service solutions for the company’s US and European-based customers”.
The call centre firm said it would provide multi-lingual support, in 16 languages, for the video-game console manufacturer’s European customers out of its centre in Dublin.
LinkedIn locates global finance base in Dublin
Three months since professional networking website LinkedIn revealed it was planning to locate its European HQ in Dublin – joining other web giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and eBay – the company has revealed it will ensconce its financial director in the city.
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 70 million members worldwide, today announced the appointment of Sharon McCooey as its new international finance director.
The company revealed in March that with IDA Ireland support it will be creating 30 jobs in Dublin, a city rapidly becoming the internet capital of Europe, with companies like Zynga and Yelp also planning to establish operations there.
Now LinkedIn is adding five additional finance roles which will be led by McCooey.
Based in LinkedIn’s international headquarters in Dublin, McCooey will be responsible for the professional network’s global financial operation, reporting directly to CFO Steve Sordello in Mountain View, California.
Ergo to create 33 jobs as spin-off goes global
Ergo has built up a multi-million euro business in the IT services space and now the established IT firm has raised €3m in venture capital and will create 33 new jobs as its Fenergo financial software business goes global.
Fenergo – derived from the Latin ‘to lend’ – has raised €2m in funding from Enterprise Ireland and the European Investment Bank to internationalise the product that helps financial operators like banks and building societies to reduce their exposure to risk.
The Fenergo software, which spun out of an IT implementation Ergo made in recent years in Ireland, manages the end-to-end processing of a bank’s exposure to customer in terms of pre-approval, collateral, loan origination, arrears, time line and portfolio.
“The technology spun out of a services engagement we had in Ireland where banks were discovering they didn’t always know how much money had been loaned out to an individual or entity.
“It is very much a product of now. We’ve already sold the product in Ireland to a number of key clients. We conducted research with Enterprise Ireland and were satisfied that it is a unique application that fills a significant gap in the global financial marketplace.”
eBay acquires mobile barcode app scanner RedLaser
Online retail giant eBay has acquired RedLaser for an undisclosed sum. With over two million downloads, RedLaser is the top-selling iPhone barcode-scanning application for comparison shopping and finding product information using a mobile device.
“With RedLaser’s innovative technology, eBay is continuing to help shoppers quickly find the best deals online, and eBay sellers will be able to list their items faster,” said Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global products, eBay Marketplaces.
The deal could drive eBay in many new potential directions, for example allowing consumers on the High Street to compare items in stores with lower cost items available on eBay.
eBay Inc. predicts US$1.5 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2010 will flow through its mobile platforms. eBay’s mobile applications are available to millions of iPhone, BlackBerry and Android users in more than 190 countries and eight languages. A mobile purchase is made every two seconds via eBay’s mobile applications.
eBay, which already employs more than 1,600 people at its Blanchardstown site together with PayPal, its online payment system, in March revealed plans to create 150 new jobs.
