Varadkar describes Accenture job losses as ‘devastating’ and pledges state support

A junior minister has called on the consultancy firm to offer voluntary redundancy as part of its plan to cut 890 jobs from its Dublin headquarters.

The multinational company announced the major workforce reduction on Monday as part of ongoing streamlining of its global operations.

The firm had already cut 400 jobs from its 6,000-plus team in Ireland earlier this year.

Speaking to Newstalk, Mr Varadkar said: “Even at a time of full employment, 900 job losses is a lot and will have an impact, not just on the people affected but, of course, on their families and the wider community.”

He said it was important for Accenture, which he characterised as a successful company generally doing quite well, to put in place a “decent redundancy package” for staff losing their jobs.

Mr Varadkar said Government would help staff find alternative employment, training and social welfare entitlements.

The tech sector, he added, which is linked to Accenture’s consultancy, had a period of rapid expansion but is now undergoing headcount retrenchment by about 5-15pc. However, he said there would still be more people working at Accenture than five years ago.

Junior minister Seán Fleming urged Accenture to maximise the potential for voluntary redundancies to achieve the latest headcount reduction.

He said Monday’s announcement was one of the biggest single redundancy moves in Ireland in many years and that the official notification to the Government from Accenture came as a “big shock”.

“It’s a big blow, especially to the people concerned and their families, and our thoughts are with them because many of them are wondering ‘Am I one of the 890 people that’s going to get the bad news over the next day or so out of the 6,000 people that work there?’,” he told RTÉ Radio 1. “Everybody in the business will be on tenterhooks until there is some clarity, and that’s why it’s most important that the company arrange the collective employee process straightaway so that there can be good information back to people.

“And they would raise the possibility that there might have been in the normal course of events, because of a lot of movement in the management consultancy sector, if people were contemplating moving to other positions or they were contemplating leaving the company, that people who want to volunteer to leave should be first, rather than everybody in that particular section being forced out, even if there is movement within the overall group.”

Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly said the job losses represented a 20pc cut to the company’s Irish workforce, including the 400 from March, which compares to a 7pc cut globally.

She saidgovernment representatives needed to ask the company why this is the case.

Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney said in a statement that the job losses represented a “significant blow” to workers and their families, and said the highly skilled workers are likely to be sought after by other parts of the economy.

Accenture, which has its headquarters in Dublin, has insisted it remains “firmly committed” to its Irish operations.

“We continue to focus on ensuring we have the right talent to serve our clients and run our business today and tomorrow,” the company said in a statement on Monday.