Tánaiste to meet with IDA this week amid tech sector layoffs

Kenneth Fox

Tánaiste Leo Varakdar is set to meet IDA bosses later this week to discuss the recent lay-offs in the tech sector.

Despite recent lay-offs from the likes of Twitter and Stristrpe as well as expected redundancies in Facebook’s parent company Meta later this week, some experts suggest the 'tech bubble' is not bursting yet.

Speaking to Newstalk, executive director of Digital Action, Liz Caraolon says the Government is relying too much on one sector: "The power that sits with single individuals is a feature not a bug of the Silicon Valley business model.

"I think as a State our reliance on this sector, which in turns is completely reliant on the whims of a very small number of billionaires who live thousands of miles away, has left us in an extremely vulnerable decision."

There are fears that more Irish workers could be in the firing line as Meta the company that operates Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, is preparing to dramatically cut its workforce as well.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the cuts are expected to affect many thousands of employees. The cuts could be announced as soon as Wednesday.

Meta employs thousands of people in Ireland, including 3,000 based in Dublin.

An additional 6,000 people are employed at operations across multiple sites including Meta’s international headquarters in Dublin, Clonee data centre in Co Meath and Reality Labs in Cork.

The news comes days after Twitter announced it would cut its workforce by half.

Twitter employs around 500 people at its European headquarters at their Cumberland Place office in Dublin.

Earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin criticised the way in which staff were let go at Twitter, saying that it was “not acceptable” and was “fairly unprecedented”.