Uber jobs boost for Limerick as 300 new roles announced for city

One of the world’s fastest growing companies, Uber, is to open the first customer support hub of its type outside the US in Limerick city, creating 300 jobs in the process.

The company is to create 150 jobs by the end of the year and around 300 when it is fully operational. Uber connects passengers who need lifts with a network of drivers in cities across the world with their Uber apps.

Uber has expanded rapidly worldwide in recent years, but is controversial. It has been banned in Spain and Berlin and its legality has been challenged by a number of governments and in particular by taxi firms who claim their use of unlicensed drivers is unsafe.

It started as a niche company in San Francisco in 2009 and now has a presence in over 300 cities worldwide, however, the Limerick operation is the first of the company’s “centres of excellence” to be located outside the US which will cater for customers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The company has taken out a ten-year lease on a building in Thomas Street, which will employ 150 people by the end of the year.

The investment of €4m has been supported by the IDA and welcomed by the Government, which says it will provide a major boost to the Limerick city economy by providing a wide range of technology jobs.

Finance minister Michael Noonan said Uber’s investment was a “massive boost for Limerick and for the IT sector in Ireland”.

“We are particularly delighted to welcome a world leading company, operating at the cutting-edge of innovative technology, to Limerick city centre,” he said.

Joe Robbins

(Director) BBS (Hons), MBPICS – Shannon Office

Joe Robbins is co-founder of CareerWise Recruitment. A graduate of the University of Limerick (Degree in Business Studies, 1985), Joe worked in the UK for five years where he specialised in materials management, production management and plant management for a number of companies.

He returned to Ireland in 1992 to become Operations Manager for a Cork-based start-up, FMC Automotive Division which was subsequently taken over by Snap-on Equipment. Joe managed the business re-location of this company to Shannon in 1997 before setting up CareerWise Recruitment in 1999.

He is a committee member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Mid-West region, and a former Director and Vice President of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce. Joe is former Chairperson of the Sixmilebridge Camogie Club and current Chairperson of the Clare County Camogie Board.

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