Leo Varadkar to meet IDA over Twitter and Stripe job losses
By Social Twitter Bought Musk Implemented Elon After file Worldwide $44bn Picture Mass Platform Was Shortly The Layoffs For Media
Twitter began a global cull of its 7,500-strong workforce, but many staff in Ireland were told that their jobs were “at risk” of redundancy and that they remain employees of Twitter. Employees at the Dublin office were told that they would not be able to access the office for security reasons as new owner Elon Musk began the process of laying off staff in a bid to cut costs at his $44bn investment.
Meanwhile, Stripe entered a 30-day consultation with staff over the job cuts, with the fintech company founded by the Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison seeking to cut 14% of its staff worldwide.
Under Irish legislation, the Department of Enterprise must be informed of widespread layoffs at large companies and no such notification has been received by the relevant minister, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, regarding the Twitter job cuts.
Mr Varadakar will meet with the IDA today to discuss the impact of the layoffs at both Twitter and payments firm Stripe on the overall Irish economy.
TDs have, however, questioned whether it would be possible to bring representatives from Twitter before any Oireachtas committees to discuss the layoffs. However, representatives of the tech industry could be called amid fears that layoffs will spread across the sector in 2023.
Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan is the chair of the Oireachtas enterprise committee and said that he was “concerned” at how the situation had been handled. He said that the committee would discuss the situation during the week.
Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor said that he did not believe that Twitter’s new owner would be keen on having representatives appear at the committee, but said that overall he was concerned about the impacts of a potential slowdown in the tech sector and would like to see this discussed.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said that the Government must ensure that Twitter adheres to its legal obligations.
“The IDA’s success in attracting Twitter to Dublin over a decade ago was hailed at the time as a big win for Ireland.
“As well as seeking a full breakdown of any benefits offered to Twitter by the State, I will be asking the Tánaiste if he is satisfied that all employment obligations and communication protocols have been complied with by the company in announcing the job cuts.”
Labour senator Marie Sherlock said that the move from Twitter shows the need for collective bargaining rights. She said it should be “the wake-up call to State that a right to be recognised for collective bargaining purposes is vital”.
“Sympathy the from Government rings very hollow unless they are prepared to take comprehensive action on that.”