Naturally, Meta’s decision to shed an estimated 350 jobs in Ireland has raised questions about the future of its considerable property footprint in the capital. After all, the job cuts are part of a broader cost-cutting initiative of which the company’s plan to prune its overall headcount by 13 per cent is just the latest part.
As part of this process, the social media giant has already begun to reduce its global property footprint. Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday told staff that Meta will “roll out more cost-cutting changes” over the coming months, continuing to “shrink” the company’s real estate presence.
That certainly sounds ominous for Dublin, where the company is currently continuing the fit-out of its new international headquarters in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. But while nothing is certain in the world of tech at the moment, it is considered highly unlikely that the Facebook owner is paring back its expectations for the mammoth campus.
Meta’s long-term ambition is to effectively bring all of its Ireland-based employees under one roof at the 14-acre site in Ballsbridge, where it has already moved some employees from its current Grand Canal Dock location.
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In July, it was reported by various outlets that Meta had paused the fit-out of Fibonacci Square. But that development, being delivered by Johnny Ronan’s RGRE for US group Fortress, is only one part of the gargantuan campus, which comprises another four existing blocks to the rear of the old AIB head office that are fully let to the social media company.
The logic behind the temporary pause was understandable, given that relatively few Meta employees had moved over at that stage and the company was facing headwinds amid a slowing market. But Meta’s lease in Grand Canal Dock will run out over the next few years and, by all accounts, will not be renewed.
As Ronald Quinlan reported in this paper on Wednesday, the family of Zara founder Amancio Ortega are on course to buy the Fibonacci scheme from Fortress and are expecting to collect rental income of €22.6 million from Meta in 2024 following the expiry of an agreed rent-free period of about 18 months. Late last year, US investor Blackstone purchased 31,536 sq m (339,456 sq ft) of office space across the four existing blocks occupied by Meta to the rear.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Meta said on Wednesday that with phases one and two of the project already complete, phase three is expected to be completed in early 2023. Once that is completed, she said, “employees from Grand Canal will join colleagues already based in Ballsbridge which will become the primary location of our international HQ”. Never say never, but a significant downgrade of Meta’s plans for the campus does not appear to be on the cards.
