It’s unknown how many employees at Meta’s office in Dublin will impacted by job cuts as Facebook’s parent company announced plans to cut 11,000 of its global workforce
The company, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, employs 3,000 people directly.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar says redundancy packages will be granted to the affected staff.
Mr. Varadkar briefed Cabinet that job losses in the tech sector shouldn’t be seen as a major crisis.
The Minister for Enterprise told his colleagues it’s a rightsizing after years of phenomenal growth and the sector will grow again in the medium term.
Varadkar also told his colleagues all the major tech companies have indicated to the Government they will maintain a significant presence in Ireland.
The Irish Times reported that rumours have emerged in recent weeks that the company could be seeking to shed up to 1,000 roles from its Irish operations, but sources inside Meta said that figure could not be substantiated.
Meta Owner Mark Zuckerberg says plans to reduce global staff by 13% were for a number of reasons.
In a statement Zuckerberg he believed the acceleration in e-commerce during the pandemic would continue, however it did not.
That along with increased competition and ads signal losses meant the company is not making the money it had expected.
It’s understood any redundancies in Ireland will be carried out within the country’s statutory framework, with affected employees entering a consultation period.
The mass layoffs, first in Meta’s 18-year history, follow thousands of job cuts at other major tech companies including Elon Musk-owned Twitter and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).
The pandemic-led boom that boosted tech companies and their valuations has turned into a bust this year in the face of decades-high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates.
“Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to employees.
“I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
