Kilkenny-based nutrition group Glanbia is planning a restructuring of the administrative functions at its Irish locations in a move that will involve up to 60 redundancies, some of them compulsory.
Staff have been informed that a new centralised unit is being established – Glanbia Enterprise Solutions – for the delivery of finance, HR and IT services to the business. Some of this work will be outsourced to third-party providers.
Glanbia Ireland currently employs 590 staff at locations in Dublin, Kilkenny and Waterford. This move will potentially reduce its headcount by 10 per cent with each of its locations impacted by the cuts.
It is understood that the company began informing staff of the restructuring on Monday. A 30-day consultation period will commence on January 30th with the job cuts implemented on a phased basis over the course of this year.
In a statement to The Irish Times, Glanbia noted that its Irish business had undergone significant change in recent years, including exiting dairy processing and selling its share of a mozzarella joint venture.
“To ensure that we are prepared for our next stage of growth and to enhance how we serve the needs of our business globally, the company is making some changes to its services functions, through a digital transformation programme,” Glanbia said.
“As part of these changes, Glanbia is establishing a new enterprise solutions function (Glanbia Enterprise Solutions – GES), which will centralise and optimise the delivery of finance, HR and IT services to the business. Regrettably the proposed changes will result in the reduction in a number of roles across finance, HR and IT.
“Due to the nature of the consultation process and timelines, the exact numbers cannot be confirmed at this stage, however it is anticipated that up to 60 roles in Ireland will be impacted on a phased basis in 2025. We will work closely with employees and their representative groups to support everyone over the coming period, providing severance packages and outplacement services.”
A spokeswoman confirmed that the redundancies would be a mix of compulsory and voluntary.
Unite, the union that represents staff at the group’s Dungarvan facility, said it had engaged in “initial discussions” with Glanbia to assess the potential impact on its members.
“We remain committed to ongoing engagement and consultation with management to minimise the number of voluntary redundancies and to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of operations in Dungarvan,” its regional officer Eoin Drummey said.
Globally, Glanbia has 5,800 employees and posted revenues of more than $1.8 billion (€1.73 billion) for the first half of 2024.
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