Meta layoffs a significant blow to Irish tech sector

Cuts will affect approximately 490 full-time employees

The Meta offices in Dublin. Nearly 500 staff will be made redundant as part of its latest round of layoffs, representing a significant blow to the Irish tech sector.

Facebook-owner Meta announced that nearly 500 staff will be made redundant as part of its latest round of layoffs, representing a significant blow to the Irish tech sector.

The cuts, which will affect approximately 490 full-time employees, casted a dark cloud on an otherwise bright day for Irish workers as new jobs figures showed employment jumped 4.1% in the 12 months to Q1 to reach 2.6m, indicating that Ireland has overall weathered the tech storm.

“This decision is part of global restructuring by Meta announced in March. [The] Irish economy remains balanced and strong with unemployment of 3.9%,” said Minister for Employment, Enterprise and Trade Simon Coveney.

Mr Coveney said in February that Ireland is “over the worst" of tech job losses. 

This was prior Meta’s latest round of cuts which is one of the largest made by a tech firm since the start of the global slowdown in the sector which began in 2022.

Some employees fear there is no end in sight and that another round of cuts could be around the corner.

"Anyone who didn’t get a severance email today knows they’re safe. But everyone safe is now wondering when the next round is and what we’ll need to get through it,” said a Meta employee who wished to remain anonymous.

Global operations

This wave of redundancies is set to shrink Meta’s Irish workforce to just over 2,000 and will affect 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.

Ireland’s flagship multinational previously cut 300 Irish jobs last November when it announced its first round of layoffs. A further 70 Irish staff were made redundant since then.

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.

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.

The tech firm, 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.

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