Varadkar: No indication Twitter or Meta closing Irish offices
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Meta is planning to cut thousands of jobs on Wednesday which has further fuelled concerns about the volatility of the tech sector in Ireland.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said neither Twitter or Facebook have given any indication that it is considering closing its Irish base.
Speaking after a briefing with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, Mr Varadkar said the government will assist any employees affected as they seek alternative employment or other opportunities.
“My main concern is for the staff and their families who will be affected by down-sizing in certain tech companies with a presence in Ireland,” he said.
There are well-established statutory processes to protect employees, and the Government said it is confident that all national employment rights requirements for consultation and notification of redundancies will be adhered to once decisions on any reductions in employment are made.
“I have asked for officials in the Department and of Enterprise, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to keep me informed of any developments,” Mr Varadkar said.
This meeting followed a series of direct contacts by his office and the agencies with Twitter and Facebook.
Mr Varadkar said Ireland is close to full employment, with high demand for tech, marketing and other skills across all sectors.
There is a strong pipeline of new investments from overseas and within Ireland in a range of sectors including tech and in other sectors and we expect many positive announcements in the coming months, he said.
The economy is well diversified, with hundreds of thousands of people employed by indigenous SMEs, pharmaceuticals, agri-food, med-tech, and financial services.
We have ongoing engagement with major tech employers through the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, and the Government has asked the agencies to intensify this engagement.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Meta is planning to cut thousands of jobs on Wednesday which has further fuelled concerns about the volatility of the tech sector in Ireland.
"Meta has advised that at present, there are no details available on any potential impacts to Meta employees in Ireland. The company is committed to best practices and will advise the Department of any updates at the appropriate time," a government spokesperson said earlier today.
If the company cuts staff in the same manner that Twitter did, the future remains uncertain for around 3,000 people employed in Meta’s offices across Dublin, Cork and Meath.
The finance minister said that every effort will be made to support those laid off from Twitter and Meta in getting new jobs.
Speaking in Brussels, Paschal Donohoe said within the economy of Ireland overall, and even looking at the tech sector within Ireland, there's still a huge demand for workers.
“And I see a lot of opportunities still within our economy for the development of the technology sector,” he said.
Mr Donohoe, as President of the Eurogroup of finance ministers said different countries are seeing different parts of their economy being affected by the change in the global economy.
“For Ireland, the early part of it is what is happening with the technology sector. We've many other parts of our economy that are performing very well,” he said.
Even within the technology sector, many employers at the moment looking for looking for talent, looking for workers to grow their businesses, the minister said.
“I appreciate it's a tough time for those who have been affected by these redundancies. I'm still positive about the ability of our economy to protect jobs that we haven't gotten at the time yet,” he said.
Mr Donohoe also said he is confident Ireland can withstand any likely drop in corporate tax revenues from the scaling back of such large companies.
Last week, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk slashed the social media’s workforce in half and digital payments giant Stripe announced plans to reduce staff by 14%, or 1,000 jobs.
Many Irish employees with Twitter have been told they are at risk of redundancy and are not required to work during the 30-day consultation period.
A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment confirmed that Mr Varadkar still has not received any redundancy notifications in relation to potential redundancies at Meta, Twitter or Stripe.
All employers in Ireland must comply with their legal obligations under the Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended. This requires a 30-day consultation with employees and their representatives where collective redundancies are proposed.
It also requires the company to inform the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment not less than 30 days before the first dismissals.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on enterprise, trade, and employment, Louise O’Reilly has called for IDA Ireland to appear before Enterprise Committee to discuss the future of big tech companies in Ireland as economic conditions could lead to more multinationals slimming down.
Intel also recently suggested will also cut jobs as inflation remains high and the personal computer market slows down.
The future of corporation tax receipts is also a concern in addition to mass layoffs.
The Department of Finance completed analysis before the budget on the risks associated with corporate tax receipts. This research was gathered before multinationals started cutting jobs, citing various economic factors.
The analysis suggested that approximately €4bn to €6bn in corporate tax receipts received last year could be at risk. For this year, the figure could be in the region of €9bn.
“The Department of Finance has regularly flagged downside risks to corporate tax receipts. These receipts are highly volatile and, as such, recent increases in corporate tax receipts are not an appropriate basis for permanent expenditure,” said a spokesperson from the department.
The overall tax take was up by almost €13bn in the 10 months to the end of October, an increase of 15.5% on the same period last year.
However, economists Jim Power and Chris Johns said that “the tech bubble is under pressure.”
They said that growing economic pressures on tech giants “should be cause for concern” as they “provide lots of employment and tax revenues in Ireland.”
In contrast to tech multinationals, the chemical and pharmaceutical sector does provide a very solid anchor for Ireland, they said.
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