Are Ireland's tech layoffs down to an AI rout?
Is employment in the tech sector hitting another rough patch? A new report from RationalFX gives pause for thought.
As tech giants pour money into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and streamline their operations, the wave of lay-offs continues.
The report paints a stark picture, with at least 90,471 employees laid off from tech companies. The US leads the way, with more than 65,000 lay-offs reported by US companies. That was followed by Japan, Sweden and Switzerland, with China in 10th place at 500 losses.
But there was one omission from the list of countries: where does Ireland rank?
READ MORE
Taken at face value, Ireland wouldn't crack the top 10. Fintech
Stripe
is the only one attributed to the country, with 300 losses announced at the dual US-Ireland-headquartered company.
But the raw figures don't paint the whole picture. How the job losses are classified geographically is down to where the companies' headquarters are located, rather than where the real cuts will eventually fall.
If you look at the losses that have been announced to date in the tech sector in Ireland, it is highly likely that we would edge our way into the top 10. Only weeks ago,
TikTok
said it would cut up to 300 jobs at its Dublin operation. Then there was HR and payrollprocessing company Workday, which said in February it would cut 142 jobs in Dublin, while Salesforce was expected to cut around 50 roles here. Munich Re, meanwhile, said it would cut up to 18 jobs at its Irish tech unit.
Those were just the jobs losses that had been announced. There are more to come –
Intel
is downsizing, while
Meta
is also cutting. Microsoft announced global job cuts in the past few weeks.
[
Intel layoffs announcement leads to foreboding in Leixlip amid job worries
Opens in new window
]
The role of AI in reducing the need for staff cannot be dismissed. But neither is it the apocalypse that was once feared – yet. While companies are cutting staff from one area, they are also recruiting for others. Stripe had 8,500 people at the start of the year; by the end of 2025, that number is expected to be over 10,000. And at the same time that TikTok said it would cut jobs in Ireland, it was also recruiting for other areas of the business.
But that will come as little comfort to those who have found their jobs surplus to requirements, or where the opportunities are outside their skill set or geographic location.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
10 minutes ago
- Irish Times
LinkedIn appoints Cara O'Leary as new country manager for Ireland
LinkedIn has appointed a new country manager to lead its Irish business, with Cara O'Leary stepping into the role. Ms O'Leary has worked with LinkedIn for almost nine years, holding a number of senior roles including heading up sales teams in the UK and Ireland, and as director of UK and Ireland mid-market enterprise. Her most recent role was as senior director for LinkedIn's European software as a service business. Prior to joining LinkedIn, she worked as sales director with Manpower Group, and held senior roles at a number of recruitment companies. 'My focus will be on staying close to what matters; listening to our people, staying clear on our priorities, and continuing to build a culture where people can do great work and truly feel they belong,' she said in a post on LinkedIn, announcing the move. READ MORE 'I'm excited about the role we play in helping professionals grow their careers; and in building AI-powered tools that connect people to opportunity in smarter, faster ways.' Ms O'Leary said the Dublin office was where LinkedIn's 'global vision meets local impact'. [ Profit rises at LinkedIn's Irish business as it declares $400m dividend to parent company Microsoft Opens in new window ] 'It's also where our culture and values guide us every day; helping us make the right decisions for our people and our business. Over the past nine years, I've seen the extraordinary energy and impact of our team and this site. Now, I have the privilege of building on strong foundations and helping shape what comes next, whilst continuing to lead our Mid-Market Talent Solutions business for Europe.' Ms O'Leary's appointment follows the promotion of Sue Duke to another role within the company, leading its Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America divisions. It also marks another female leader for LinkedIn in Ireland; prior to Ms Duke's appointment, Sharon McCooey led the Irish business for 13 years, growing it from three employees. The company has also faced job cuts in recent weeks, as part of a wider global move by parent company Microsoft to reduce costs and trim the workforce by about 3 per cent. That included a number of roles at bothe Microsoft Ireland and LinkedIn here. There may be more to come, with Microsoft reportedly set to announce further cuts early next month. Although it will affect the tech giant globally, there may be some impact on LinkedIn.
Irish Times
10 minutes ago
- Irish Times
State must increase spending by €265bn by 2050, Central Bank's Makhlouf warns
Government spending will need to increase by about €265 billion over the next 25 years to pay for an ageing population, more housing and cutting emissions, Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf has said, as he called for a credible spending rule to help prevent future downturns. 'While the State's Future Ireland Fund (FIF) will go some way to paying for what is needed in the years ahead, 'the FIF will be insufficient – on its own – to fund the higher level of public expenditure that will be required to meet the needs of an older population and to fund climate and housing investment,' Mr Makhlouf wrote in his pre-budget letter to Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe , which was published on Monday. Spending 'will need to rise by 6.5 percentage points of national income (GNI*), or €265 billion, between 2025 and 2050 to fund higher age-related spending and the additional public investment required to meet housing and net zero targets,' he added in the letter, which is considered a key part of the budget planning process. Amid what he described as 'heightened uncertainty' around the global economy, Mr Makhlouf urged the Government to broaden the tax base, amid concerns about how reliant the exchequer is on a small number of companies and individuals to pay maintain its tax revenue. READ MORE Overseas multinationals generated about a fifth of all tax and PRSI in 2023, Mr Makhlouf said, while about 8.5 per cent of tax payers accounted for 56 per cent of personal income taxes paid. Given that backdrop, the Government should install a 'credible' spending rule in the upcoming budget. [ Government must 'anchor' spending as Ireland faces potential permanent economic hit from tariffs, official says Opens in new window ] 'To avoid a repeat of past mistakes and to shift budgetary policy away from an excessive short-term approach, the Government should commit to a credible fiscal anchor for budgetary policy to ensure the overall fiscal stance is suitable, guards against procyclicality and boom-bust dynamics and safeguards long-run fiscal sustainability,' Mr Makhlouf wrote. Successive governments have previously pledged to cap the increase in so-called core spending at 5 per cent per year. Yet in the years since that pledge was introduced, successive ministers have broken that rule. IATA Director General Willie Walsh on airline profits, air fares and why the Dublin Airport passenger cap makes Ireland a laughing stock Listen | 35:56 Mr Makhlouf has been critical of such moves in the past, noting it would likely boost inflation. 'It is important that policy supports rigorous expenditure control – not least of current expenditure – and enables the enforcement of sustainable increases in overall net government expenditure over time,' the governor added. On housing, the Mr Makhlouf noted that public money on its own 'will not be sufficient to address the housing and wider infrastructure gaps that have emerged. Fiscal and broader public policy should more actively consider reforms to crowd-in private investment and to promote productivity growth.' He pointed to measures that could quicken the planning process for housing, adding that such measures which would reduce the delays and costs were needed to help ensure the long term benefits of such projects feed into long-term growth. Mr Makhlouf also pointed to the need for investment in new technologies in the construction sector to help boost large scale projects especially for housing and infrastructure.
Irish Times
26 minutes ago
- Irish Times
CSO figures for May show 10% drop in tourist numbers
Inbound tourism to the State was down 10 per cent last month compared to the same period in 2024, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show. Some 560,500 foreign visitors made a trip to the Republic in May, spending €477 million, down 21 per cent compared with the same month last year. The largest contingent of visitors came from Britain (35 per cent) and the United States (25 per cent). The most frequent reason for travelling was for holiday and leisure (43 per cent), followed by visiting friends or relatives (31 per cent). The figures are included in the CSO's Inbound Tourism release, published monthly. READ MORE The average length of stay for visitors was 7.3 nights, up from an average of 7.2 nights in May 2024, and down from 7.8 nights in May 2023. Visitors stayed a total of 4.1 million nights in the State, a drop of 8 per cent when compared with May 2024, and down 9 per cent when compared with May 2023. Gregg Patrick, statistician in the CSO's tourism and travel division, said the number of foreign visitors who departed the State on overseas routes last month was down by 10 per cent compared with May 2024 and by 2 per cent compared with May 2023. He said that compared with May 2024, visitor numbers from Britain fell by 9 per cent, from continental Europe by 21 per cent, and from the rest of the world, outside of North America, by 38 per cent. 'In contrast, visitors from North America were up 11 per cent,' he added. 'Compared with May 2023, visitors from Great Britain were down by 1 per cent, continental Europe by 22 per cent, and the rest of the world by 9 per cent, whilst visitors from North America were up 33 per cent.' The CSO has held a series of meetings with tourism bodies over concerns that declining inbound tourist data is out of kilter with industry experience. [ CSO meets tourism industry over 'confusing' visitor data Opens in new window ] Fáilte Ireland was the latest organisation to seek a briefing from statisticians last month. Inbound tourist numbers have declined consistently since last September, raising eyebrows among tourism operators who have not noticed a corresponding effect on business.
