200 Jobs At Co Waterford Customer Support Centre

Some 200 jobs in customer support have been created at the Emerald Contact Centre in County Waterford.

The roles in English and foreign language customer care and sales support will cover a range of global financial, health and travel publications. Recruitment for the newly refurbished Confederation House in Waterford Business Park will take place over the next three years.

The Emerald Contact Centre currently employs 140 staff and this new announcement will bring the workforce to 340 employees by 2021.

The 200 additional jobs will include customer support roles for agents with international languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, German, French as well as English.

Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Emer Prendergast, Director at the Emerald Contact Centre said: "We are incredibly happy with our new home at Confederation House. The space allows us to offer our employees a bright and inspiring working environment. This is an exciting new chapter for us all."

Launched in 2015, Emerald Contact Centre plan to hire the first 50 new team members in a variety of roles by the end of 2019.

"Emerald has grown steadily over the past few years, surpassing initial projected growth of 50 to 70 jobs, and today's announcement of 200 additional jobs is a testament to the calibre of people and skillset we have found here in the South East," said Emerald President Roseann Miller. "We fully expect this growth to continue," she added.

Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development John Halligan TD, who attended the event said: "I am delighted to officially open the new offices for Emerald Contact Centre and announce 200 new jobs for Waterford. The Government is fully committed to regional development and ensuring every region benefits from employment gains. Today's announcement demonstrates, once again, that the South East is an attractive location with much to offer investors. These highly skilled multilingual jobs will enable the company to grow, and I look forward to their continued success here in Waterford."

IDA Ireland's Divisional Head of Regional Development, Denis Curran, said: "This is a terrific announcement for Waterford and the South East Region. Emerald Contact Centre has made great strides since establishing in Waterford four years ago. The 200 new jobs will greatly benefit the economies of Waterford and the wider South East Region. The opening of these new offices and the new roles being created demonstrate a clear commitment from Emerald to the region, which is most welcome. I wish them continued success."

The newly refurbished offices have been designed by Waterford-based C.J. Falconer & Associates and feature open and bright work spaces, a gathering space for meetings, a number of staff huddle zones and rooftop garden.



(JG/CM)