Three Ireland to cut 160 jobs in merger

Mobile phone company Three Ireland is to make 160 of its staff redundant in its headquarters and across its retail operations.

In a statement it said the move follows the company’s recent acquisition of O2. It said the integration of services would lead to “inevitable role duplication” across the two businesses.

Approximately 85 staff will be made redundant in its headquarters and a further 75 will leave its retail business network. The statement also confirmed “a number” of fixed-term contracts across the business will not be extended when they expire.

The company said a redundancy package of six weeks ex gratia payment plus two weeks statutory per year of service will be provided to departing staff as well as appropriate outplacement support.

On a more positive note Three Ireland said it will create 90 permanent customer care roles over the next 12 months. The additional positions will bring to 440 the number of staff employed in the company’s customer care centre in Limerick. Over the same period it said a number of existing contract staff will be made permanent.

Three Ireland chief executive Robert Finnegan said: “These staffing changes are designed to redirect resources to enhance service and to ensure an efficient network that best serves our customer needs. We had signalled that integrating two businesses would inevitably result in some duplication of roles, and whereas we can’t side-step that challenge, we can and will ensure that departing staff are treated fairly and generously.”

He also said the company was confident that a planned €300m investment in its high speed network would require up to 100 full-time equivalent roles through third party contractors over the coming three years.

Meanwhile, up to 900 international construction, engineering, medical, hospitality and IT jobs will be on offer at yet another jobs expo in Dublin at the end of this month.

The Working International Expo will include employers from Canada, New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand employers will be looking for a number of construction professionals to continue with the rebuilding of the earthquake-hit city of Christchurch.

The expo will take place in the Clyde Court Hotel on September 24, from 11am to 4pm. Tickets (priced at €12) are available at www.workingin-events.com