Foreign multinationals in Ireland shed jobs for first time since 2009

Employment at foreign multinational companies in Ireland fell by 0.3% in the year to end-October in the first annual decline since 2009 as tech layoffs offset jobs growth in every other sector, the state investment agency said on Friday.

Ireland is hugely reliant on foreign multinationals, which have almost doubled their workforce in the last decade to make up around 11% of the entire labour market.That number fell to 300,583 from 301,475 in the year to end-October after job losses more than doubled year-on-year to almost 18,000.Those employed in the information and communications services sector fell by 2.9% after a number of big employers including Meta, Accenture and Stripe laid off Irish staff as part of global cutbacks from late last year.Job growth was recorded in all other sectors and the head of IDA Ireland, the investment agency, said he expected to return to net jobs growth, noting that many of the tech companies that cut jobs are “now turning to growth.”

via Reuters