Lidl to Employ 600 Staff in Ireland Within Two Years

04 Aug 2016 --- Lidl is to hire 600 staff in Ireland within the next two years, as it looks to build on its growing share of the country’s grocery market.

The expansion plans were announced by Mary Mitchell O'Connor, the Irish minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation and Maeve McCleane, HR director of Lidl in Ireland.

Lidl, which has been operating in Ireland since 2000, currently employs around 4,000 staff across 146 Irish stores.

The jobs form part of Lidl's €110m ($122m) expansion plans and span across shop managers, store and warehouse workers.

The move has been welcomed by Mitchell-O'Connor, who said:  “Lidl’s decision to hire an additional 600 new staff over the next two years is a real vote of confidence in the Irish economy and demonstrates further commitment from a company which has already invested over €1.5 billion in Ireland since 2000.”

“I am particularly pleased that much of this employment will be spread across the country in Lidl’s stores, a key objective of the Government’s Regional Jobs plan.”

The German-owned discounter currently has 12 percent of the Irish grocery market.

The expansion plans, which could eventually lead to 50 stores, are largely targeted around new concept store, which are larger than Lidl's usually outlets and are specifically designed to target middle-class shoppers and broaden its appeal.

Lidl along with other German discounter Aldi have proved successful in pinching market share from traditional grocers in Ireland and also in the UK.