250 new Waterford jobs announced

Some 250 new positions are being created in Waterford through the expansion of Irish company Eishtec.

The firm provides call centre services at its offices in the Cleaboy Business Park.

Today's investment has the backing of Enterprise Ireland, and the jobs are set to come onstream by the middle of this year.

Recruitment for the new positions is currently underway.

The growth is on the back of Eishtec securing a contract to provide customer service sales support for Orange, one of the UK’s leading mobile telecoms brands. 

"The south-east region has persistently had higher than average levels of unemployment, and has suffered disproportionately from the economic collapse, " Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said.

"In the context of the recent job losses at Talk Talk, today’s announcement that 250 contact centre jobs are to be created by an Irish company in Waterford with State support is a major boost for the city and shows what is possible with the right government priority and determination."

However Minister Bruton said that authorities were not going to address the region’s problems overnight, adding that sructural challenges in the region can only be addressed through a concerted process over several years all stakeholders in the region.

Eishtec was set up by Heather Reynolds, Brian Barry and Colm Tracey in early 2011 and currently employs 30 people. The company is now recruiting for roles across sales campaigns and is in ongoing discussions with additional clients to provide further growth over the longer term.

"This is a significant win for Eishtec, for Waterford and Ireland," Ms Reynolds commented.

"We have the skills and experience in our team to provide the highest quality services to Orange and help support the achievement of its business objectives.

"We're delighted we can maintain a proud tradition in Waterford of providing market-leading customer services to blue chip organisations."

Fine Gael’s Paudie Coffey said the positions being created at the Eishtec call-centre were much needed in the city.

“These jobs come at a time of an unemployment crisis in Waterford where we suffered numerous job losses late last year,” he said.

Mr Coffey said Eishtec is a prime example of entrepreneurs with expertise willing to take a risk and create employment which will help stimulate economic activity in Waterford.

“This is an extremely positive announcement and it is down to the hard work, effort and ambition of the management and staff since the company’s establishment last year,” he said.

“This is a Waterford company that has the potential to grow and expand even further.”