The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) says workers must not pay the cost for “Big Techs” ambitions for Ireland’s EU Presidency. This follows a round of mass-redundancy impacting staff at Tiktok’s Dublin office- with over 300 staff on-course to lose their jobs.
The company which currently employs more than 2,000 people in Ireland, proposed cuts which are part of a restructuring that will also involve the creation of new roles in Dublin and the redeployment of current staff.
According to TikTok, this move has also impacted some other markets.
In April, The Digital and Tech-worker Alliance survey, which is part of the CWU, issued warnings about widespread health difficulties affecting employees at Tiktok’s Dublin headquarters, describing the situation as requiring “urgent intervention.” Many respondents reported there were "symptoms consistent with clinical anxiety, burnout and depression.” This survey highlighted significant psychological strain within the social-media platform’s Irish operations.
Ian McArdle, Deputy General Secretary of the CWU, underlines the need to not simply reduce these job cuts to “AI job losses”. He said:
“Week after week, we see further announcements from Covalen, TikTok, Meta, to Microsoft of large-scale layoffs, linked to outsourcing, cost reduction, and a rhetorical focus on Artificial Intelligence."
“These workers are not the victims of inevitable technological advancements. While AI implementation is playing some role, the primary driver of these job losses is the same outsourcing, cost-cutting and reduced working conditions agenda that we are all too familiar with."
"Tech companies like TikTok are simply using AI as the latest excuse to undermine the rights of their workers and accelerate the outsourcing of decent jobs in Ireland to lower cost providers elsewhere. The reality is ‘Big Tech’ and, unfortunately, the Irish state, are effectively working together in denying workers a chance to organise and be represented in these processes by their trade union of choice.”
The workers’ union also says the latest rounds of cuts and major redundancies are adding to the stress of the workers as they will have to re-enter the tight job-market during a cost-of-living crisis.
CWU’s General Secretary, Sean McDonagh says, tech-workers are entitled to support from the government.
“As the communications and tech union, we are seeing tech workers getting the short end of the stick when it comes to state support that should and is available to workers facing similar threats in other sectors. "
"The Irish government has a social and moral obligation, particularly as it chairs the European Council, to demand that tech companies respect the basic rights of workers in Ireland and right across the European Union. EU worker protections must be applied in full to protect the workers, and indeed the economic activity and state funding that their social contributions and their financial contributions support.”
On the 1st of July when job-cuts plan had been announced, the Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers shared his concern with the tech workers:
"It does show the uncertainty that our economy is facing in context of the disruptive effect of AI within the labour market in particular."
"Whilst we're at full employment, and we've continued strong employment levels in the years to come, we need to be very careful of exposing ourselves to further expenditure lines and to protect our revenue base."
"That's why I'm conscious of the risks that our country faces in the decisions and demands that we get everyday for more and why we have to be very careful in how we decide and frame Budget 2027."
CWU’s Mr. McDonagh said the Communications Workers’ Union is calling on tech-companies to engage with the trade union representative to negotiate for enhanced redundancy packages that take into account the economic realities workers are facing- including re-training workers for future roles.
