US technology heavyweight Oracle has today announced that it plans on adding 1000 new staff members throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), as the company beefs up its cloud computing operations in the regional market. The cities in which the hiring offices will be located in are as yet undisclosed.
Official word from Oracle states that ideal candidates will possess between 2 to 6 years of cloud-related experience, with selected individuals to be placed across the sales, management, finance, marketing and human resources departments in the EMEA region. The recruitment drive is Oracle’s reaction to annual financial reports which highlight that sales in the region had dropped 2% last year, as customers began to shift away from Oracle’s traditional enterprise computing software towards cloud-based platforms. The reports also show that Europe, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 28% of Oracle’s total sales worldwide in 2016.
In a public statement, VP of Oracle Cloud EMEA, Tino Scholman, acknowledged the importance of his company’s move:
Our cloud business is growing at incredible rates, so now is the right time to bring in a new generetion of talent.
Despite the minor dip in sales performance in the EMEA region, Oracle’s cloud stock continues to soar globally as the company reported a 58% year-over-year revenue growth in its cloud business for 2016. Worldwide sales of cloud computing software and hardware generated USD 4.6 billion last year, representing a significant rise when compared to the USD 2.9 billion total of 2015.