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The human factor in Dublin 7
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Getting the best out of people is part of our DNA, says Workday’s Caroline O’Reilly

Few people, you suspect, are in a better position to dispel the old stereotype about people in the tech industry being geeky and male than Caroline O’Reilly. The Vice-President of Software Development at Workday is as happy namechecking favourite musical acts (singer-songwriter PJ Harvey and Dublin post-punks Fontaines D.C. among them) as she is to discuss how Workday’s 1,300-strong Dublin operation works hand in hand, juggling time zones, with its HQ in Pleasanton, California. But much about O’Reilly — and Workday — is counter to expectations.

At Workday’s Dublin office.

For starters, unlike some US multinationals with a presence in Ireland, Workday’s Dublin base is less a subsidiary and more a peer of its West Coast HQ, carrying out much of the R&D work and engineering the company’s product: enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. “It’s a real partnership with California… and I think we’ve earned that over the years,” says O’Reilly, noting the depth of software talent available in Dublin: some 800 software engineers work at its office in the city.

Unlike many tech companies in Dublin, you won’t find Workday in the city’s so-called ‘Silicon Docks’ zone. Since 2015, it has occupied an office in Smithfield, the Dublin 7 neighbourhood that has seen considerable regeneration efforts in recent years. Workday’s presence is part of that regeneration, says O’Reilly, who points to the company’s record of ‘giving back to the community’.

Looking out over the Smithfield neighbourhood.

That takes various forms. While there are many facilities onsite, staff are encouraged to get out of the office, socialise and spend money in the community. Employees volunteer at the Capuchin Day Centre for homeless people, a stone’s throw from the office, helping with its food service. Others get involved with the Time2Read literacy scheme with local schools, spending time reading with children.

Workday Dublin is more of a partnership office, rather than a subsidiary of its US headquarters.
Workday Dublin is more of a partnership office, rather than a subsidiary of its US headquarters.
Workday Dublin is more of a partnership office, rather than a subsidiary of its US headquarters.

As for O’Reilly, when she’s not leading her 210-strong global team, she might be found getting involved in the business of changing perceptions. This matters deeply to her. She opted to study computer science at Trinity College Dublin, but nearly went to art college instead. She cleanly rejects the notion of an arts/science divide. “There is a really creative aspect to writing software. We talk about creating elegant software — it has parallels with architecture. The people I work with really have a passion for building something beautiful.” Her own outreach has seen her get involved in coding workshops for children as part of Trinity College’s Bridge 21 programme. Her journey towards software engineering began at the age of 11 when she was lent a gaming console and realised it could be programmed. But it wasn’t until her fourth year in college that she got her own computer. “It was really a leap of faith to just start into computer science with very little background.”

As the mother of two daughters — the eldest, aged 15, enjoys coding — she is passionate about changing gender perceptions. “I never see in the media a group of women working on a software problem,” she says. Nor, she points out, is software engineering a solitary job. “You have to be very social because you have to get on with people, you have to negotiate.”O’Reilly praises Workday’s diversity and inclusion policies through its mentoring programmes and employee belonging councils, believing the commitment is “part of our DNA”. She says: “From the day I joined Workday, I saw so many women in leadership roles and in technical leadership roles… It's really important for me to help other women see what different roles there are.”

A break for coffee at the Proper Order Coffee Company in Smithfield.
O’Reilly loves cycling, which is made easier and safer in Dublin by the growing number of bike lanes.

All that befits a company whose product is about helping businesses get the best out of their people and which counts some 63 different nationalities in its Dublin office. Covid-19 has brought no end of challenges for human resources, but there have been one or two quality-of-life payoffs in Dublin, notes O’Reilly. The city has become far more cycle friendly with new bike lanes. That pleases O’Reilly, a Brompton bike owner, who got into cycling, through rain and snow, while working in the Netherlands.

A favourite pandemic pastime: swimming in the sea near Dún Laoghaire.
A favourite pandemic pastime: swimming in the sea near Dún Laoghaire.
A favourite pandemic pastime: swimming in the sea near Dún Laoghaire.

And, along with many others, she took up sea swimming during the pandemic —Seapoint, near Dún Laoghaire, is her favourite spot. “The thing about swimming in Dublin,” she observes, “is that people talk to you in the water, which is really nice.”

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