Small reduction in staff numbers but PayPal’s announcement a concern
COMMENT
Then An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD officially opening eBay Inc. European Operations Centre, Dundalk, watched by, John McCabe (left), Jean-Marc Codsi, Louise Phelan and David Marcus of eBay & PayPal in April 2013.
The news that PayPal intends to close their Dundalk office at the end of March is a major blow to the town’s industrial and commercial base.
Many can remember the excitement generated just over ten years ago in July, 2012 when the firm with a growing world wide reputation announced that they were setting up their European headquarters in Dundalk with the creation of 1,000 jobs over the following four years.
The company which was only founded in 1998 by two technology entrepreneurs on the premise of low-cost effortless digital payments to customers and businesses, set up their Dundalk facility to service a growing European, Asia and African market.
And the company made good on its promise for the numbers employed in the modern Dublin Road office complex grew rapidly with profits generated by their 2,300 employees in their Irish operations both in their HQ in Blanchardstown and in Dundalk growing to €23m. on a turnover of €215m in 2019.
Not only did the company bring direct employment to Dundalk, and in the process attracted workers from many parts of the world to service their multilingual business, they also provided invaluable work for contractors who managed the facilities on site.
Indeed those who worked or visited the office site were impressed not just at the expanse of the building, the efficient manner in which it operated, and the magnificent canteen facilities for workers.
Unfortunately Paypal, like many companies in the hi-tech digital and information business have been experiencing a post Covid downturn, and the history of Paypal while it isn’t a long one has had plenty of ebbs, flows and tipping points many of which have surfaced in recent times.
Understandably recently there has been a great deal of anxiety expressed by employees at the Dundalk operation for their future job prospects, and while 27 jobs are set to lose their jobs in Dundalk and 35 in Dublin it is the closure of the Dundalk office that is causing the greatest concern.
Undoubtedly many of the workers who will remain in the employment of the company and will work from their homes from the end of March will have gotten used to working from home since Covid impacted all of our lives, but for some it is not the choice they would make.
It is of course accepted that the transient nature of major international companies is a factor of modern employment, and the days when the industrial base of this town comprised long established indigenous firms in engineering, shoes, brewing and cigarettes are long since gone.
In coping with that process workers nowadays do not accept that a job is for life as heretofore and realise that they must be adaptable both in acquiring new skills, and in the location in which they find work, and in many ways that attitude can be an advantage in seeking new jobs.
However, there is no disputing the fact that the closure of the Dundalk office is a blow to the town, and the hope is that such a fine office building can still play a major role in the town’s industrial and commercial future.