The Financial Services Union (FSU), which also represents tech workers, has said it has “real concerns” about continued job losses in the tech sector after 490 redundancies were announced by Meta yesterday, in addition to around 320 jobs that were lost at the company’s Irish operation in November.
John O’Connell, General Secretary of the FSU said it was a “worrying day for staff working in META who will now have an anxious wait to see if they are one of the 490 staff at risk of redundancy.
“First and foremost, it is important staff are treated properly by the Company and their concerns are not just listened to but acted upon by the company.”
“The company should also adopt an approach a voluntary first approach to the redundancy process,” he said.
“During the consultation process there is a legal requirement on the company to explore options to avoid redundancies. It is not appropriate for the company to pre-empt the outcome of this process.
Mr O’Connell said that “quotes from the CEO of META that the company will start hiring once the restructuring has taken place are inappropriate at this juncture.
“If there are opening in other areas of the organisation the 30-day consultation period should be utilised to try and redeploy staff at risk of redundancy.
“The announcement raises real concerns about continued job losses in the tech sector in Ireland. Simon Coveney comment back in February that Ireland was “ over the worst of the job cuts “ has proven to be incorrect and we would expect a more proactive approach from the Government and Government agencies to ensuring that jobs are secured in the sector,” he added.
Meta’s Irish staff will have been reduced by almost a third in a year when the new job cuts take effect.
In March 2022, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s workforce would reduce by around 10,000 people. Now he says that sluggish growth in the global economy could continue for “many years”.“Last year was a humbling wake-up call,” he said.
In addition, CEO Philip Jansen stated that a fifth of the roles are expected to be replaced by AI.
Other companies who have laid off staff include Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce – while Buzz Feed closed down its news section.
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