It is understood that approximately 350 jobs located in Ireland are under threat at Meta. The technology company had previously informed employees in a memo last month of its plans to cut 10% of its global workforce, which amounts to roughly 8,000 staff, and also stated it would not fill thousands of open positions.
Impact on Irish Workforce
Irish broadcaster RTÉ reports that Ireland-based staff received early morning emails notifying them of their potential inclusion in the redundancies. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has submitted a collective redundancy notification to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in the Republic of Ireland. The tech giant currently employs about 1,800 people in Ireland.
Reasons Behind the Layoffs
The BBC previously reported that a key reason for Meta’s layoffs is its increased spending in other areas of the company, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI). Meta is projected to spend $135 billion (£100 billion) on AI this year, an amount roughly equal to its combined AI spending over the previous three years, according to a source who viewed the internal memo. Since 2022, Meta has implemented several rounds of job cuts, affecting tens of thousands of workers globally. While the company had resumed hiring last year, bringing its overall employee count back to pre-initial layoff levels, these latest job cuts represent Meta’s largest layoff since 2023. A number of other tech firms, many of which are also investing heavily in AI tools and infrastructure, have likewise announced significant job reductions this year.
Government and Union Response
Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke, stated on Wednesday that the government will support Meta employees. “My message is very clear to employees in Meta, first of all the government will have your back,” he said, adding, “We will support you to gain employment again.” Burke highlighted a “huge demand” in the wider economy for the “skill sets that many have in Meta and the IT sector” and assured that the government would provide “any additional training.” He acknowledged the distress caused by an uncertain future but reiterated the government’s commitment to supporting employees and their career paths.
The Financial Services Union (FSU), which represents workers in the technology sector, emphasized the need for “full and transparent stakeholder involvement from unions to employers and regulators to legislators to manage the change that AI will make to the workplace and to jobs.” The FSU warned that without such collaboration, job loss announcements would continue. Labour’s enterprise spokesperson, George Lawlor, urged the government to “work with Meta to ensure fairness is applied and to protect jobs and livelihoods where possible.” Lawlor also called on the Department of Enterprise to develop a strategy to protect technology jobs in Ireland, describing it as a “deeply worrying and stressful time” for Meta employees. He noted that the cumulative effect of these cuts is devastating not only for directly employed workers but also for families and those indirectly employed by the tech industry.
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