A trade union representing workers at the Irish arm of Indeed has said its members are “shocked and disappointed” after the online recruiter announced plans to shed another 8 per cent of its global workforce on Monday, with a number of roles expected to go in Dublin.
It marks the second round of job cuts at the US company in the past two years after Indeed shed 2,200 roles globally – said to be about 15 per cent of its total workforce – last year, more than 200 of them in Dublin, where it now employs some 1,000.
In a press release on Monday evening, Indeed chief executive Chris Hyams said Irish employees would find out “within the hour” whether they will enter a 30-day consultation period regarding their future with the group. However, he said the cuts will be “mostly concentrated” in the US and are “more focused” on research and development and go-to-market teams than last year’s cuts.
Dublin has been home to Indeed’s European headquarters since 2012 where it is understood to employ staff across a broad mix of teams, from sales to product design.
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The total number of employees affected at the Irish operation is not yet clear. A spokeswoman for Indeed was approached for comment.
“I am sad to share the news that we have made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount through a layoff,” Mr Hyams said. “Unlike last year, where our reduction was driven by cost savings, we are taking this action because we need to simplify our organisation to make it easier and faster for us to make decisions, and help us to more effectively grow revenue and hires.”
A spokesman for the Financial Services Union (FSU), which represents some workers in Indeed, said its members were “shocked and disappointed” with the news. The FSU will meet its members over the coming days to discuss their next steps.
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The company will now enter into a 30-day consultation period with its employees in the Republic before it can issue a formal notice of redundancy to individual workers. Indeed is also required to notify Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke if it plans to shed more than 30 jobs here. The department has been approached for comment.
Last year, the Labour Court recommended that Indeed “should engage constructively to address matters raised by the workers through their trade union” in any future rounds of redundancies at the Irish arm. The recommendation came off the back of a complaint by the FSU over the US group’s handling of job cuts and the severance packages offered to staff.
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In his recommendation, Labour Court president Kevin Foley noted he had received written and oral submissions from the FSU but had received no information from Indeed, which did not attend a hearing last May.
In his statement on Monday, Mr Hyams said the global slowdown in hiring last year led to “multiple consecutive quarters of revenue loss”. He said: “While the global economy has improved in several areas over the past year, we are not yet set up for sustainable growth. Despite our efforts so far, our organisation is still too complex, we still have significant duplication of effort and too many organisational layers that slow down decision-making. We have been working to simplify every aspect of our business, but without meaningful change, we can’t get where we need to go.”
He said Indeed would “significantly” restructure its R&D team and be eliminating most of its sales roles at its Foster City, California, offices.
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