Recruitment firm Indeed is expected to shortly inform staff involved in a redundancy programme selection procedure carried out in recent weeks which of them are to lose their jobs, according to some of those affected by the process.
A number of employees are understood to be considering seeking an intervention from the Workplace Relations Commission because of the terms currently on offer.
The company had previously announced its intention to cut about 70 jobs at its Dublin offices which house the multinational firm’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters. More than 1,200 people work for Indeed in Ireland.
About 170 staff were told they were at risk of losing their jobs as the process got under way, with just under 70 currently employed across the company’s sales, customer service and R & D departments now expected to have their departure confirmed.
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Staff representatives engaging with the company told colleagues that they had sought to have the departures delayed as they contended the start of the summer would be a particularly difficult time to find another job.
They have also sought to have the redundancy terms on offer improved. The company has said those departing will receive a minimum of 16 weeks’ pay plus their statutory entitlements plus one week’s pay for each year in excess of five years’ service.
The staff representatives, who have been advised by the Financial Services Union, have sought improved terms for those with longer service.
The union is understood to have recruited a number of members inside the company last year when 220 staff were laid off. That round of cuts was prompted by financial concerns in relation to the wider company but the firm has bounced back strongly from the pandemic with Indeed Ireland Operations Limited reporting profits of €783 million for the 15-month period to March 31st of last year.
The current round of job losses is said by company CEO Chris Hyams to be motivated by a desire to streamline structures at the company and eliminate duplication.
The staff representatives are said to have argued that the company’s current profitability provides the opportunity for it to be more generous with the terms on offer. To date, however, there has been no indication that they will be improved. Indeed did say it would change the basis on which it decided who would be selected to go, saying it would take an expressed desire to depart voluntarily into account as part of a wider process. Performance was to remain the key factor, however.
The company has said its focus has been to make the process “an open and transparent one for everyone involved, such that all impacted colleagues fully understand the company’s proposals and all concerns raised are fully considered”.
“We have engaged in collective consultation with elected employee representatives who were chosen by their colleagues and will continue to engage constructively, including with respect to all matters raised. And we will, of course, comply with all legal obligations around this process.”
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