Microsoft cut about 250 jobs in Ireland as part of cost control measures announced in July, but the company hopes to grow its headcount here again in the coming years, the company’s site leader in Ireland has said.
The company’s latest round of job cuts across its global operations looked to shed about 9,000 workers globally – about 4 per cent of its workforce – in a bid to control costs.
The software company declined to comment at the time on how many jobs would be affected in Ireland, where it employs some 6,400 people, but the figure was estimated to be about 250 people on the basis the 4 per cent cut would be applied in Ireland.
Taking questions from The Irish Times this week as the company marked 40 years of operations here, Microsoft Ireland site leader James O’Connor confirmed the figure was “accurate”.
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“We’re at the end of that process,” he said. “Certainly in terms of the changes that were rolled out across the company earlier this year. That process has been completed.
“Of course there are always tough decisions, but there is also the broader evolution in terms of role changes.
[ Microsoft has contributed €4.9bn to Irish economy over past year, report findsOpens in new window ]
“Our chief executive came out recently and talked about the need to evolve and grow our headcount over the coming years.”
Asked whether that would mean adding jobs in Ireland, he said: “I’m not going to commit to that now, but we are always making sure Ireland is strongly positioned within the company.
“That’s why I come back to the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital skilling in the economy here, continuing to make sure we are competitive on a global level.
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“Ireland is the most critical and most strategic hub for Microsoft outside of our headquarters in Seattle.”
Mr O’Connor said he did not foresee AI leading to mass displacement in the Irish job market.
“The great thing about AI is it does help us to optimise maybe mundane tasks and free up more capacity for innovation, and for greater impact in what you’re doing,” he said. “Through that, you obviously have role changes.
“You’re going to have roles that evolve and roles that are maybe impacted. But also, what we’re seeing right now is a lot of new roles and career opportunities that we wouldn’t have even thought about a year ago emerging with AI.
“We added just over 500 core roles in research and development about a year ago. All of them, and all of our software engineers here, are working on core technology and core engineering, all centred on AI.”
He said he had confidence in Ireland’s workforce to upskill as AI moves more and more into the workplace. The company has announced an investment of €4 million in AI skilling initiatives here.
“There are many reasons why we’ve made significant investments over the years in Ireland, but one of the key things is talent,” he said.
“Not only can we get great technical skills and engineering capabilities, but our talent has really differentiated us around adaptability, embracing change, driving transformation, and working through complexity.
“That’s a real differentiator for our broad workforce here in Ireland. We want to make sure we skill them up, and we want to make sure we’re doing that in the broader ecosystem as well.”
