‘Worst fears’ realised as 164 PayPal jobs face axe, Dundalk TD says
164 positions will be redundant across its remote and Dublin sites
PayPal has confirmed that it is to cut almost 12% of its Irish workforce, Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.
The Sinn Féin TD provided the update this evening after speaking to a PayPal spokesperson who said that it is proposed that a total of 164 positions would be redundant across its remote and Dublin sites, representing 11.9%. The company employs 1380 people on a full-time basis in Ireland.
News of possible redundancies in the fintech giant made its way into the public domain yesterday (Monday) morning when staff from the business support department received an invitation to an online meeting where they heard that 29 senior agents, three team leaders and one manager would be made redundant.
The spokesperson confirmed to Deputy Ó Murchú this evening that in addition to the loss of those initial positions, a further 131 redundancies across a range of departments would be sought, bringing the total to 164 possible redundancies.
It was stated that the proposed cuts to jobs would take place at all levels of the company.
Deputy Ó Murchú said: “The PayPal spokesperson told me that as part of a strategy announced earlier this year, the company would seek to simplify their operations and position the firm for long term growth through the removal of duplication and clearer reporting lines”.
He said that while he received an assurance from the company that they are committed to Ireland in the long term, there remains ‘legitimate concerns’ about the turbulent few months endured by PayPal, along with the ‘constant worry of AI’ among the workforce.
The Dundalk deputy said: “Today, I was concerned when they announced the first set of job losses this morning that there could be more as we were aware that further teams were called to meetings.
“However, it is the realisation of our worst fears to hear that 164 jobs are under threat. I sought assurances from the company that those who are facing layoff would get an enhanced redundancy payments and it was indicated to me that this would be the case.
“It’s really sad for the workers involved and their families, many of whom have given years of sterling service to PayPal. The process of the nomination of employee representatives will begin shortly and there will be a period of negotiation and consultation with workers with redundancies proposed to be taking place between October 7th and 21st”.