TikTok, the Chinese social media giant, is set to cut jobs from its Dublin office over the coming weeks, the Business Post reports. The tech company confirmed it has already begun cutting jobs across its global recruitment teams. It is understood the company has already let go a number of staff from its US operations, with further cuts expected over the coming weeks in its Asian and European offices, including Dublin, once it completes a consultation process with affected staff.
In total, about 100 staff members are due to be let go, it is understood. A number of staff on TikTok’s recruitment team in the US posted on social media to say they have been let go, with one staff member writing that it was part of “lay-offs across the company.”
Developers push back against new land-hoarding taxes
The state’s biggest developers, investment funds and other businesses that own large amounts of unused land are lobbying to avoid land-hoarding taxes that would be collectively worth hundreds of millions of euro to the state, according to the Business Post.
Several State bodies have also appealed to be exempted from the taxes – including the Land Development Agency (LDA), which has warned that the clampdown on land hoarding could drive up the cost of rent and homes.
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As part of the Government’s flagship Housing for All policy, the Residential Zoned Land Tax, levied at 3 per cent on a site’s market value, will come into force next year.
Approximately 10,000 hectares of serviced residential development land has been identified within the scope of the tax, which could yield more than €300 million a year. The tax is designed to counter “hoarding and speculative behaviour” in the Irish property market, which has been highlighted by Government research. The research has found that a rising number of developers and investors are sitting on large tranches of land with planning permissions for homes.
Ex-Kerry Group boss locked in bitter transatlantic legal row
Denis Brosnan, the well-known Irish business figure and former Kerry Group chief executive, is embroiled in two court rows with his US-based former son-in-law over debt disputes linked to loans and investments he made to the American and his tech company worth “several million dollars”, a report in the Sunday Independent says.
The report reveals the courtroom battle between Brosnan and former son-in-law Geoff Cramer and his technology company, The Futures Group, has been under way in the US state of North Carolina since 2021. More than 100 filings have been made in the dispute, with a series of affidavits and counterclaims.
New EU pesticides law could lead golfers into the rough
Golfers could face an epidemic of dandelions and daisies on their fairways and patchy greens due to a new EU directive due to take effect in 2024, according to the Sunday Times.
The Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR), which aims to reduce general pesticide use by 50 per cent, is targeted at agriculture but will also ban pesticides on golf courses and other public spaces deemed “sensitive areas”.
Aer Lingus staff vote for 10% pay deal by small margin
Aer Lingus ground staff at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports have voted by just a small majority to accept a pay deal of more than 10 per cent, the Sunday Independent has confirmed. Siptu confirmed in a memo to its members that 57 per cent of the staff it represents voted in favour, with 43 per cent against.
