‘Spectre of unemployment’ haunts Ballincollig
The words of an Taoiseach Leo Varadkar under questioning from Socialist Party TD for Cork North-Central, Mick Barry, regarding a proposed 364 redundancies at the VMware cloud tech site in Ballincollig.
Staff at the Cork site were made aware of potential job cuts last week following the takeover of the firm by US semiconductor company Broadcom.
It is reported that VMware currently employs approximately 1,000 people at its Ballincollig site, meaning the proposed cuts represents more than 1 in 3 jobs lost at its Cork site.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar said he had understood that Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, had been contacted by VMware/Broadcom and had been made aware of potential redundancies which the firm claimed it would “seek to avoid where possible”.
Last week, Deputy Barry called on the Taoiseach to ensure that Minister Coveney would contact VMware and its new owners to “impress upon them the importance of each and every one of the 364 jobs”.
Speaking in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday, Deputy Barry said: “How can a family enjoy their Christmas when a job is on the line like this, and the new year is threatened by the spectre of unemployment?”
He added: “I’d conclude by urging these workers to organise a workforce which is united and organised, which would always have a better chance against a global corporation that puts profits first.”
In response, Mr Varadkar said he didn’t know if Mr Coveney had reached out to VMware.“I’m informed that yesterday (Monday) VMware notified Minister Coveney of potential redundancies in Ireland,” he said.“The company has advised us that it will seek to avoid the proposed redundancies where possible and will explore that in the consultation process with staff,” he added.
Sinn Féin local area representative for Ballincollig, Joe Lynch, described the confirmation that there will be more than 360 redundancies at VMware as “a massive blow for Ballincollig”.
He said: “In recent weeks, it was announced that VMware had commenced a consultation process with its employees on the restructuring of the company.”
Sinn Féin wrote to Minister Simon Coveney to again call on him to do everything possible to ensure jobs were saved.
“VMware staff in Ballincollig have now learned that the company plans to make over 360 workers redundant,” continued Mr Lynch. “This is a particularly cruel time of year for staff to receive this news and I extend to all the workers our solidarity at this difficult time.”
The Cork Independent reached out to VMware/Broadcom but no response was received by time of going to print.