The news that PayPal, which has its European headquarters in Dundalk, is to cut 2,000 full time jobs is a ‘dreadful’ blow for the town as workers ‘wait once more to see where the axe will fall’, Sinn Féin TD for Louth Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.
In an email sent to workers globally which arrived shortly after 7pm, PayPal boss Dan Schulman said that 7% of the global workforce will be cut ‘within weeks’.
Deputy Ó Murchú said: ‘This is an incredibly sad day for people who work in PayPal in Dundalk and their families.
‘Almost one thousand workers in the company are now waiting to see where the axe will fall, but there is serious and deep concern that there will be further job losses in Dundalk.
‘This announcement is coming on the back of significant losses at the Dundalk site in June last year which was very stressful for those involved as they went through the redundancy selection process.
‘There cannot be a situation where workers are left wondering and worried. And there cannot be a situation where there are rumours swirling in a vacuum leading to more stress for employees.
‘PayPal has been a good employer in Dundalk over many years, and there are currently around 1,000 people employed in this European headquarters for customer service and which also looks after a lot of the company’s British business.
‘We need details from the company as soon as possible as no-one knows where this is going to fall. I am in contact with the IDA and the relevant government ministers about the issue. We need to know there will be the best and fullest interaction with PayPal management about how this announcement will affect Dundalk and Dublin operations and the company interacts with the government and vice versa.
‘Anyone facing redundancy in Dundalk should have the full backing of all the State agencies to help them through the process and to help them find alternative work at this very difficult time’.
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