Twitter informs Irish Government of 140 job losses

Twitter has informed the Government that 140 people will lose their jobs as part of a worldwide job cull.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar confirmed the news at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in Athlone, noting that the company had “at long last” gotten in touch with the Department of Enterprise on Friday morning.

Twitter employs 500 people in its Dublin office, meaning that one-third of the workforce will be let go.

Mr Varadkar said that affected staff will be supported by the Government.

“We did receive at long last the redundancy notice from Twitter today in the Department.

“It's about 140 redundancies. Obviously, once again, my thoughts are with the staff who are affected. Roughly a third of the staff in Dublin will be made redundant.

“They can be assured that they'll receive a lot of government help, whether it's job search to find a new job, whether they want to set up their own business, we can help with that too. Whether it's going back to education or training we can help with that.”

Mr Varadkar said that while he “can’t predict the future”, there have not been suggestions that there will be any more than 140 redundancies.

Twitter temporarily closed its office in Dublin and in other global locations on Friday morning.

New CEO Elon Must has told employees that they either have a choice to work more intense hours as part of a bid to build a more “hardcore” Twitter or to quit their jobs.

If they decide to leave, employees will receive three months of severance pay.

It has been suggested that the ultimatum has led to a swathe of resignations.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin branded Twitter’s recent behaviour as “unacceptable” as he sympathised with employees over their “uncertain futures”.

He also said that any Irish Employment Right Laws will apply when people are losing their jobs.

“Employees of any company must be treated with respect and dignity. That's what our legal framework governing industrial relations demands. It's the most basic requirement of any enterprise that people are treated with dignity and respect.

“It's unacceptable what's happening within Twitter in terms of employees who must have very uncertain futures.

“There's a need for coherence and there is a need for a clear roadmap ahead in terms of Twitter, globally. And then in terms of the various locations, such as Dublin where Twitter have employees.

“We will work with all employees to see what we can do to help and to be of assistance.