160 jobs to go in Three restructuring
Some 160 jobs are to made redundant at telecommunications company Three Ireland as part of restructuring in the wake of its takeover of O2.
However the company said an additional 90 jobs are to be created at its customer care centre in Limerick, bringing staffing levels there to 440. Three said it would provide direct service to all of its customers from Limerick in future, retaining some back office customer care activity in Mumbai.
In a statement the company said the changes would "address inevitable role duplication whilst growing and enhancing Three’s customer service team in Ireland".
"160 roles will be made redundant due to role duplication across the two businesses," the statement said.
"In head office there will be approximately 85 roles made redundant and in retail there will be approximately 75.
"Additionally, a number of fixed term contracts across the business will not be extended when they expire."
The company said a redundancy package of six weeks ex gratia payment plus two weeks statutory per year of service will be provided to departing staff as well as appropriate outplacement support.
It also said that 25 roles have been created over the last year, predominantly in IT, to work on aspects of the coming together of the two businesses.
“These staffing changes are designed to redirect resources to enhance service and to ensure an efficient network that best serves our customer needs," CEO Robert Finnegan said
"We had signaled that integrating two businesses would inevitably result in some duplication of roles, and whereas we can’t side-step that challenge, we can and will ensure that departing staff are treated fairly and generously."
The acquisition of O2 in Ireland by Three was approved by the European Commission on May 28 last and legally completed in early July.
The acquisition was for €780m. A further additional deferred payment of €70m is payable dependent upon achievement of agreed financial targets.
The acquisition of O2 takes Three's market share to 37% and brings subscriber numbers to over 2m active users. The two companies had combined revenues of €736m in 2013, which compares to Three's revenue of €180m in 2013 on a standalone basis.
