Facebook-owner Meta to cut almost 500 jobs from Irish workforce

The latest wave of job cuts is set to shrink Meta’s Irish workforce to 2,600 and will impact around 6,000 jobs in total across its global operations.

Staff across a number of teams at its Irish operations including finance, sales, marketing, analytics, operations, and engineering are at risk of losing their job. Photographer: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Facebook-owner Meta has announced approximately 490 employees at its Irish operations will be made redundant as part of the multinational’s latest round of lay-offs amid the ongoing global tech slowdown.

Meta informed government that full-time employees at the tech giant will be impacted by the latest round of redundancies and contract workers will not be affected. The latest wave of job cuts is set to shrink Meta’s Irish workforce to just over 2,000 and will impact around 6,000 jobs in total across its global operations.

Staff across a number of teams at its Irish operations including finance, sales, marketing, analytics, operations, and engineering are at risk of losing their job.

Meta previously cut 300 Irish jobs last November when it announced its first round of lay-offs. A further 70 Irish staff were made redundant since then. Meta is expected to comply with the legal requirements set out in Ireland in regards to redundancies.

Meta Ireland was notified that they would potentially be impacted by the restructuring of its teams which will result in laying off employees globally, as announced by its CEO Mark Zuckerberg in March.

Mr Zuckerberg said he aims to slim down the size of Meta’s overall headcount by a further 10,000 this year. He announced 4,000 job cuts as part of this in March. 

“Since we reduced our workforce last year, one surprising result is that many things have gone faster. In retrospect, I underestimated the indirect costs of lower priority projects,” said Mr Zuckerberg in a blog post.

The Financial Services Union (FSU) said staff will have "an anxious wait" to see if they are at risk of redundancy and called on Meta to respect the statutory 30-day consultation period.

General secretary John O'Connell said: "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 union said Meta should adopt "a voluntary first approach to the redundancy process". 

"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.

"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.”

Minister for Social Protection said her Department would be working with those who have been made redundant to match their skills set with positions that may be available.

"My Department stands ready to assist and we will set up, if needed, dedicated support lines and dedicated contact people to give them all the support we possibly can," she said.

"I'm thinking of the people who have lost their jobs, that's a big shock to get when you're told you don't have a job anymore, and many things flash in front of your mind when you hear that on how you're going to pay your bills."

Meta, like many other tech firms, ballooned its headcount during the pandemic but slowed hiring and reduced its workforce last year due to a slowdown brought about by volatile economic conditions and an e-commerce slump.

Meta, which also relies heavily on ad revenue, is also vulnerable to advertisers tightening budgets as the global economy has grappled with rising inflation which has led to rising interest rates.

This is one of the largest job cuts announcements for Irish employees by a tech firm so far since the slowdown began. However, overall Ireland has weathered the tech storm better than other parts of the world, as employment law prohibits the immediate firing of employees.

Central Bank estimates from earlier this year show tech lay-offs have led to 2,300 Irish job losses. The latest Meta announcement has boosted this closer to 3,000.