Number of tech workers falls by almost 5,000

A wave of layoffs announced by multinational firms

The overall number of workers continues to grow.

The number of tech workers in Ireland has fallen by almost 5,000 in the past year, highlighting the impact of a wave of job cuts by multinational firms.

New payroll data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for October shows the information and communication sector recorded a 3.7% drop in workers to 120,700 compared to 125,300 working in the sector in October 2022. It was one of only two sectors to record a fall, with all other sectors recording an increase in workers.

Payroll index

The payroll index, which tracks employment using income tax data provided by the Revenue, grew by 2.1% over the past year. The data for October shows the seasonally adjusted number of workers stood at 2.4m.

Despite layoffs announced by multinational tech firms over the past 18 months, employment in the sector continued to grow here throughout much of last year, reaching a high point of 125,800 workers last December. Since, there have been 10 consecutive months of reductions in the number of workers in the information and communication sector.

CSO’s Labour Market and Earnings Division statistician Eimear Heffernan said nine sectors saw a monthly decrease in the numbers employed in October, four sectors increased, while two saw no change. The largest monthly fall was in the services sector, down 1%, while the largest monthly rise was in accommodation and food service activities, up 0.5%.