State agencies will try to find jobs for 890 workers being laid off by Accenture

Accenture employs more than 6,500 people in Ireland, bringing its employment reduction in the downturn to almost 20pc. The layoffs come on top of 400 cuts already announced by the services giant earlier this year.

It was heavily affected by operational cuts at tech multinationals such as Meta, which has let more than a third of its workforce go in the last year.

“This is a significant blow to the workers involved and their families, and my thoughts are with them,” said Mr Coveney.

“Our State agencies will now work with the company and the workers to assess openings elsewhere in the economy.

“It is important to note that the workers involved are from a highly skilled sector and those skills are likely to be sought after elsewhere in the broader economy.”

The Department of Enterprise said it had been notified yesterday of the planned redundancies by Accenture.

“In March, we initiated a series of actions to streamline our operations, including the departure of around 2.5pc of our current global workforce,” said a spokesperson for Accenture.

“We will be commencing a collective employee consultation for a proposed redundancy programme that is expected to affect around 890 people at Accenture in Ireland. We do not plan to comment further while the consultation process is ongoing.”

The 890 job losses were branded a “nuclear button” by Labour’s finance spokesperson Ged Nash TD, who said it was a “huge blow”.

He said Accenture now had a month to carry out a formal consultation and it must be “meaningful and not tokenistic”.

“What the company ought to do is to work with their staff and staff representatives to identify possible other cost-cutting measures that could be considered outside of the nuclear button of 890 redundancies.

“It should not be a fait accompli. This is a consultation process. This is a huge blow,” he said.

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly said the news was “crushing” for staff and their families.

“This is yet another concerning blow for tech workers in Ireland, and a worrying sign of continuing volatility in the sector,” she said.

She called on Mr Coveney to investigate how many people losing their jobs would be “re-employed”.

“We need to know the full picture. The volatility in the tech sector over the past 18 months further reinforces the need for all workers to join, and be active, in their trade union.”

Thousands of Accenture’s employees act as outsourced workers for tech giants, including Meta and Microsoft, many of which decided to reduce their workforces because of the economic downturn.

It also provides services to banks, government agencies and big industrial and pharma businesses around the world.

“Our business in Ireland continues to show strong performance and we remain focused on our strategy to be at the centre of our clients’ business and help them reinvent themselves to reach new levels of performance.

“We continue to focus on ensuring we have the right talent to serve our clients, to invest in our people and recruit in critical skills areas. We remain firmly committed to our business in Ireland and will continue managing for the long-term,” the spokesperson said.

Accenture’s business in Ireland is headed by country managing director Hilary O’Meara.