No eBay jobs expected to be lost in Dundalk

Proposed job losses in eBay are not expected to affect its Dundalk operation, according to reports.

The online auction site announced plans earlier this week to cut 2,400 jobs worldwide ahead of a split with its sister company, PayPal, later this year.

eBay currently employs 600 people in Ireland between its facility at the Xerox Technology Plant in Dundalk and a centre in Blanchardstown in west Dublin.

It had been feared that Dundalk would be targeted for job cuts due to the fact that no redundancies would have to be paid, with the company only opening locally in April 2013.

However, it is now understood that no customer service positions will be affected – something which makes up the bulk of the jobs in Dundalk. Indeed, the local operation is still hiring on an ongoing basis.

Fears for Dundalk jobs as eBay confirms plans to cut 2,400 jobs globally

As speculated before Christmas, eBay has confirmed plans to cut 2,400 jobs worldwide.

This makes up around 7% of its global workforce, slightly less than the 10% cut predicted when news of the company’s plans broke last month.

With its European HQ in Ireland, eBay employs around 2,500 people in Dundalk and Dublin and while it is not clear whether any Irish jobs will be effected, there will be fears over positions locally due to the fact the vast majority of staff at the company’s base in the Xerox Technology Park would not be entitled to redundancy.

The cuts are to be made in the first quarter of the year and come ahead of the split between eBay and sister company PayPal into two separate entities by mid-2015 in an effort to maximize shareholder value.

eBay announced the plans cuts while reporting its fourth quarter earnings yesterday and also revealed that it was exploring the possible sale or IPO of its eBay Enterprise unit.

eBay first acquired PayPal, an online payment processing service, in 2002 for $1.5 billion. While it once made sense to pair an online auction house with a payments company, some investors and outsiders called for a split long before the official announcement so the two companies can better focus on their core products.

The eBay facility in Dundalk officially opened its doors in April 2013 and has become one of the town’s biggest employers in that time.

Dundalk jobs could be at risk if eBay proceeds with plans to cut 10% of its workforce

A number of jobs at eBay’s Dundalk site could be in jeopardy if the company proceeds with plans to lay off as much as 10% of its workforce.

The Wall Street Journal has stated that the sales site could be set to cut back on the number of staff it employs in anticipation of the company’s planned separation with sister company PayPal, who are also based at the Xerox Technology Park in Dundalk.

The job cuts, if they go ahead, are likely to affect each site and could involve around 3,000 people globally being made redundant. The Journal reported that those within the company’s marketplace division would be most at risk.

The report comes just three months after eBay announced it would split its online marketplace from PayPal by mid-2015.

eBay first acquired PayPal, an online payment processing service, in 2002 for $1.5 billion. While it once made sense to pair an online auction house with a payments company, some investors and outsiders called for a split long before the official announcement so the two companies can better focus on their core products.

The eBay facility in Dundalk officially opened its doors in April 2013 and has become one of the town’s biggest employers in that time. As well as having a facility in Dublin, Ireland is its European headquarters and if any job cuts came here they would most likely be in Dundalk given no redundancy payments would have to be made due to the short tenure in which staff have worked there.