Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

VMWare is a leading virtualisation and cloud computing software and services company, which first established in Ballincollig in 2005, following its acquisition by EMC. In May 2022, VMWare and Broadcom jointly announced that Broadcom would acquire VMWare. As a result of the acquisition, which formally closed on Wednesday 22nd November 2023, Broadcom’s current software division rebranded and operates as VMWare.

The company is planning a substantial rationalisation of VMWare’s headcount across its global operations in 100 countries, and, on Monday 11th December, VMWare notified me of potential redundancies in its Irish operations. My and Government's first concern remains for the staff and families of those impacted by the redundancy announcement and Government support is on hand to assist the impacted employees in relation to income, employment and training supports.

IDA Ireland has a strong relationship with the Irish and corporate management team at VMWare and is working with the local leadership team to understand the skills profile of impacted employees and to match that with existing or target client-company skills requirements. In that regard, I understand that several alternative employment opportunities have been identified for those likely to be affected by redundancies.

I should also acknowledge that VMWare is still regarded as a highly valuable IDA client-company in the South-West region which has helped to drive the growth of the software and broader technology base in the region.