Oracle goes on hiring spree in Europe

Oracle plans to take on 1,700 new employees in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the IT giant said on Wednesday.

Oracle plans to take on 1,700 new employees in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Photo credit: Alex Gorbachev/Flickr

The recruitment drive aims to fill positions ranging from graduate roles to senior sales staff and Oracle Direct customer support workers. According to Oracle, the new roles are a result of continued growth in all its areas of operation in the region.

"This is an exciting time for Oracle," Alan Hartwell, head of technology at the company's UK arm, said in the statement. "Hiring 1,700 new colleagues will help to support growth across all lines of our EMEA business and reflects the demand which exists for our end-to-end provision of hardware and software, which is designed and engineered to work together."

The company said it will advertise the jobs both through traditional channels and through social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Although the main focus of the recruitment drive is sales, Hartwell told ZDNet UK that Oracle is looking for people with skills in finance, engineering and business development.

The Redwood Shores, California-based company's most recent financial results, released on 23 June, showed a 13-percent year-on-year rise in revenue in the fourth quarter. Oracle software sales and customer support revenue were particularly strong, although hardware sales came in slightly below expectations.

Oracle's biggest market is in the Americas; however, EMEA accounted for $11.5bn (£7.12bn) in revenue during the 2011 financial year — up 29 percent on 2010.