AI-related layoffs likely to continue without proper oversight, unions warn
Speaking on the layoffs, the Financial Services Union (FSU) said the decisions being taken by employers to utilise AI across their business are happening 'without adequate training or proper oversight'. File picture: Thibault Camus/PA
The loss of 350 jobs at Meta comes as the Irish tech sector is being pushed into a “dangerous stage” where the implementation of AI in the workplace is outpacing regulation, worker representatives have claimed.
Staff at the Irish arm of the global tech giant were informed on Wednesday that their roles had been cut as part of another round of global tech layoffs targeting 8,000 jobs in total.
The latest restructuring, aimed at reducing costs, comes as Meta invests heavily in AI infrastructure.
Speaking on the layoffs, the Financial Services Union (FSU) said the decisions being taken by employers to utilise AI across their business are happening “without adequate training or proper oversight".
The layoffs at the Irish operation are more than expected. The 350 impacted roles account for around 20% of the company’s Irish workforce. It had only been anticipated to be 10%. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has been notified.
Meta's Irish workforce has already been reduced by around 40% since its peak following the pandemic of around 3,000 staff. It now has 1,800 people across Dublin, the company's Reality Labs in Cork, and its data centre in Co Meath.
A spokesperson for the FSU said that full and transparent stakeholder involvement is needed to manage the change that AI will make to the workplace and to jobs.
“Without that collaboration, we will continue to see announcements of job losses like we have seen today," the FSU said.
The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) has also called for immediate government action to legislate for the right of workers to organise and collectively bargain through their trade unions, following a “significant and accelerating” rise in membership among Meta employees.
“Meta’s announcement is the starkest possible evidence of the gross imbalance of power between workers and employers in this country, particularly in the tech sector," the CWU said.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has committed more than €80bn to AI capital expenditures this year.
The company had just under 80,000 employees at the end of March, ahead of the reassignments and layoffs, with that number expected to be closer to 70,000 once the restructuring is complete.
The tech giant’s head of people, Janelle Gale, said the sector is now at the stage where many organisations operate with a “flatter structure with smaller teams of pods and cohorts that can move faster with more ownership".
“We believe this will make us more productive and make the work more rewarding," Ms Gale said.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also made AI the company’s top priority, committing all of Meta’s resources to keeping pace with rivals such as Google and OpenAI. This has resulted in multiple rounds of layoffs, with Zuckerberg increasingly pushing for further efficiency.
These attitudes have left Meta staff with mixed feelings regarding the adoption of AI, with the FSU reporting that 88% of respondents of a survey produced by the trade union believing AI will lead to job displacement.
In addition, 43% of respondents said they had not received any reskilling or upskilling, and their employer had no plans to provide training to meet this need and give workers choices when a change of this scale is occurring.
The latest round of cuts is the most significant since Meta embarked on its “year of efficiency” in 2022, which saw an initial cut of 350 jobs at Meta Ireland, followed by a further 490 layoffs announced in May 2023.
In an internal memo on Wednesday, Mr Zuckerberg told Meta employees that he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year.
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