THERE’S GOOD NEWS on the jobs front this morning, as 200 new positions are announced in various industries.

Mobile devices manufacturer Ericsson today confirmed it was taking on 100 new software engineers at its premises in Athlone where it carries out research and development functions.

The new job creations go some way towards restoring the 300 jobs that the company shed in Dublin in 2009.

Ericsson’s Irish managing director, Michael Gallagher, said the new positions would sustain Ericsson’s ‘leading position in mobile broadband’.

The Athlone facility will also be expanded and upgraded in line with the new positions.

Jobs minister Richard Bruton said the announcement was “a great vote of confidence in our policies” and said the government would continue to plan to bring new R&D investment to Ireland.

Elsewhere, a medical software company WPA Mobile, based in Roscommon, is to recruit 40 new software staff, while RTÉ reported that software company CampusIT would hire 14 new people over as part of plans to develop a ‘student integration management product’.

In non-technology areas, a new service area is to open on the M7 this morning with the creation of 50 jobs.

The 24-hour service will be based at the Monasterevin junction in Co Kildare.