Ericsson

Ericsson creates game-changing technologies and services that shape our future and here in Athlone, as one of Ericsson’s largest R&D centres, we are at the forefront of opening new possibilities in communication for the world.

Denis Dullea

Head of Research and Development at Ericsson Athlone

Ericsson

The world-leading mobile technology brand, Ericsson, traces its history back to 1876. Headquartered in Sweden and operating in over 180 countries, the company employs more than 100,000 people.

A long history in Ireland

Ericsson first set up in Ireland in 1957, and fifteen years later in 1972 it opened its operations in Athlone. At the time, the Midlands site was a manufacturing operation. In the 50 years since, it has completely transformed into a software development hub. Today, Ericsson’s Athlone campus employs around 1,200 people, and is one of the largest enterprise software development centres in Ireland.

The R&D centre in Athlone is a critical asset provider of a diverse, competent, and loyal workforce. It’s a lean operation, comprising multiple engineering units. The operation is hugely strategic for Ericsson itself, central to the parent company’s technology roadmap: it is the global R&D headquarters of the Ericsson Network Management portfolio as well as many other key assignments for Ericsson.

Ireland’s advantages

Ericsson manages several key global contracts out of Ireland; the company finds it’s a great place to partner and collaborate with operators, research centres, and other companies in the telecoms, cloud and general IT value chain.

Athlone’s central Midlands location means Ericsson’s recruitment teams can stretch the net wide for talent. The town offers a mix of quality of life, lower living costs than in big cities and attractive career prospects, which have all helped Ericsson to cultivate a strong and loyal workforce. Its Dublin operation, although not as expansive as Athlone, is equally full of positive energy and is a hub for hybrid working. Both operations are well networked with third-level education in Ireland.

Ericsson continues to move forward in both locations, with exciting opportunities in the pipeline. The team in Athlone is always innovating in multiple areas of new technology. In 2022, the company announced plans to hire 250 additional people at the Athlone site to support its ongoing development of cloud-native products powering its global 5G portfolio.