The medium to long term outlook for the tech sector in Ireland remains positive even amid “retrenching” and “downsizing” in the sector at present, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Speaking during a visit to Apple’s offices in Hollyhill in Cork on Thursday, Mr Varadkar said that the industry had grown rapidly during the pandemic. “It is now retrenching a bit. Downsizing by about five or 15 per cent, and I think that is still ongoing. But I am convinced in the medium to long term that we are going to see a lot more tech jobs in Ireland,” he told reporters. “Why do I think that? Because the future is digital. There is only going to be more of that in the medium to long term.”
Mr Varadkar was speaking after professional services firm Accenture said it would cut 890 staff in Ireland this week. HR software giant Salesforce said on Wednesday it would lay off another 50 staff in this country.
Asked about possible aid to laid-off workers in the sector, Mr Varadkar said the Government was monitoring the situation and planned to provide every support possible, whilst calling on companies who are downsizing to treat their employees fairly.
“Workers who get laid off are entitled to redundancy payments from their employer. What I am saying to companies that are downsizing, that are still profitable, that the basic redundancy of two weeks per year of service isn’t enough. We expect companies that are profitable, not withstanding the fact that they are downsizing, to offer much better exit packages for their employees and in fairness most of them are doing that. Then government steps in and we provide assistance to people in terms of job search.”
Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment Simon Coveney accompanied Mr Varadkar on the visit. He noted “those people” laid off by tech firms this year “have found employment very quickly elsewhere. Because they are highly skilled people.”
Mr Varadkar was at the Apple site to mark the firm’s plans announced last year to expand its operations here, adding about 1,300 staff. The expansion showed Apple was “very committed to Cork and to Ireland”, he said.
On the Apple tax case, which is nearing a conclusion at the European Court of Justice, the Taoiseach expects a decision “in a matter of months”.
“We have won the first part of the case. And we expect to win the appeal to. This is about an allegation that 20 years or so ago there was a special arrangement between the Irish government and one particular company that wasn’t available to other companies. That is not true. That did not happen.”
