As the government is set to meet with the IDA to discuss recent job losses at tech multinationals, the end may not yet be in sight.

FREMONT, CA: According to The Wall Street Journal, a significant layoff at Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, might occur as soon as possible. According to sources who spoke to the publication, numerous employees can be affected by large-scale layoffs.

Meta (NASDAQ: META) stated that as of September 30, 2022, the company had over 87,300 employees worldwide, an increase of 28 per cent over the previous year. At its European headquarters in Dublin, Reality Labs team in Cork, and data centre in Clonee, Co. Meath Meta employs about 3,000 employees in Ireland.

The restructuring rumours surfaced soon after Meta CEO Mark cautioned that some teams would shrink in the upcoming year and that the company's headcount would either be constant or decrease by the end of 2023 in an earnings call. Following its 2021 business revamp, when its focus changed to the metaverse and both virtual and augmented reality technology, Meta's stock has been falling all year.

Reality Labs, the Meta division in charge of VR and AR development, reported a loss of USD 3.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022, up from a loss of USD 2.6 billion in the same period last year. In 2022 alone, this division lost almost USD 9 billion and exiting Meta CFO Wehner forewarned that the pattern would carry over into the following year.

Meta Ireland will be required to notify the government in advance if there is a significant staff reduction. That, however, was not the case with the most recent round of massive layoffs at Stripe and Twitter. Neither business disclosed its staff reduction plans to the Department of Enterprise. In Ireland, businesses must first confer with employee representatives before recommending a collective redundancy. Additionally, when deciding which employees to lay off, they must use fair and reasonable selection criteria and have a valid business purpose.

The fine for failing to follow this procedure is up to Euro 250,000. Additionally, it can result in complaints of unfair dismissal and charges filed with the Workplace Relations Commission. Following employee reductions at Snap, Twilio, Patreon, Intercom, and Shopify, among others, comes the widely reported hiring freezes at Stripe and Twitter. Additionally, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has acknowledged that employment cuts are being considered in light of the continuous decline in global PC sales. Concerns have been raised regarding the Irish job economy, which has historically relied heavily on the tech industry.