Fears for Irish Ebay jobs amid planned shake-up

Ebay, which employs close to 3,000 people here, is planning to cut its global workforce by 2,400, or 7% during this quarter.

The California-based company, which has staff in its operations in Blanchardstown in Dublin and Dundalk, is planning to simplify its structure and boost profit ahead of a planned separation of its business.

The firm has indicated that the job cuts will fall across its marketplaces, PayPal and enterprise businesses.

Ebay has been under pressure to improve profitability from its largest activist investor, Carl Icahn, who has a nearly 8% stake in the company.

Yesterday Ebay said it agreed to name an executive from Icahn’s investment firm, Jonathan Christodoro, to its board.

Icahn has pushed Ebay to sell off PayPal, which is the company’s best-performing unit.

Last October Ebay announced its plans to spin off the PayPal payment-services business from its online marketplaces.