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Investigates Investigates Money Diaries The Journal TV Climate Crisis Cost of Living Road Safety Newsletters Temperature Check Inside the Newsroom The Journal Investigates Daft.ie Property Allianz Home The 42 Sport TG4 Entertainment The Explainer A deep dive into one big news story Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture have your say Or create a free account to join the discussion Advertisement More Stories Several readers told of struggles finding new work.Alamy Stock Photo The Morning Lead The reality of losing a job: Silent redundancies, AI and reentering the jobs market Our readers tell us about their recent experiences of redundancies. 12.11am, 2 Nov 2025 Share options THIS WEEK SAW the announcement of jobs at risk on different sides of the market, with hundreds likely to be lost at Amazon and courier firm Fastway. If it feels like this is becoming more common, it’s because it is more common. The figures confirm your thoughts. Recent data from the Central Statistics Office showed a spike of 9.4% in ‘job destructions’ compared to the same period last year. Following the latest announcement of jobs under threat, The Journal asked its readers on whether they had suffered through this over the past year. And in response we heard of the range of emotions experienced after they lost the jobs they had held for years. Some of these roles that were lost were in high-profile multinationals, with difficulties also found upon returning to the jobs market. The silent layoffs A certain type of redundancy that has reared its head in recent months is the so-called silent layoff – where a smaller number of jobs are trimmed by a company without fanfare or media attention. The Journal has reported on claims of similar happening at TikTok’s Dublin office for instance. Some of these silent layoffs have been taking place well before this year, but may be getting noticed more due to a perceived tightening of the jobs market. Aidan from Co Offaly worked for a gas supplier for almost 20 years, but suddenly found himself out of a job in a round of cuts. Five people lost their work, this reader recalled: One guy had 30 years’ service. I don’t remember driving home, it was like a death but no body. Another person told The Journal that they were recently made redundant from PayPal after over a decade of employment. But the sacking didn’t come as a shock as the reader said the company has been “doing redundancies every 6 months or so for the last 2-3 years. They tend to be in small numbers so it’s not reported a lot”. “Friends of mine from my department were made redundant earlier this year so it wasn’t a huge shock to me but I was still surprised when it happened,” said the reader, who asked to remain anonymous. The blow was cushioned by a redundancy payment: “I won’t mention the amount but it was generous.” Another reader, Cork-based and working in the tech sector, said ‘restructuring’ was the reason for his layoff – and for his lack of shock when it happened. He agreed that the short-to-medium term outlook for other companies means they are either cutting jobs or not looking to hire right now. “In my experience, it’s a challenging market for job seekers. I was a jobseeker in 2018 and 2022 – tougher market in 2025. There are lots of candidates right now for non-specialist tech roles like Project Managers/Program Managers/Product Managers/Recruiters.” A Morgan McKinley report into the Irish labour market detected this same trend. These adjustments are “not immediately visible” in headline figures as they don’t require a formal notification to the Department of Enterprise – and may well help avoid negative headlines. The notifications are supposed to happen if the layoffs meet a certain threshold of a workforce, which is 30 jobs or more at larger employers. What’s driving these silent layoffs? According to Morgan McKinley, it’s most often due to a combination of global economic uncertainty, AI-led transformation and nervousness around US tariffs. AI-led transformation was mentioned by a couple of our readers who had recently lost jobs. One, a translator, said half of his department was made redundant “because they believe in AI translations, although it is not nearly as good, or nearly as precise”. “There was a redundancy package,” he said, but added: “More than the bare minimum, but less than you would expect from an IT company with good revenues and a global brand.” Broader redundancies There’s also the not so silent layoffs. Advertisement As with Amazon and Fastway this week, major employers like Oracle have also said they’re reducing their Irish workforce. Another example of this happened to one man working at Intel’s plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare. This reader “drew the short straw” and found himself the only one in his team cut as part of the trimming to the company’s Irish operations. Recent days have marked his last day at the company he joined six years ago via a project management subcontractor. “I was told 4 weeks ago that our department had to be cut by one and I drew the short straw. It absolutely came as a shock because there is a lot of work lined up for next year,” the man said. Earlier this year, Intel announced it was cutting 195 jobs, as it battles to catch up with competitors globally. Soon after a catering company contracted for the plant reduced its headcount by 37 jobs. Returning to the jobs market This man who worked for Intel has to wait to find new work through the project management firm that subcontracts him to sites. However, there has been little success just yet in finding new work. “I’ve been finding it tough the past month since I was told, very few calls or email replies regarding new positions. Leaving Ireland isn’t out of the question but I’ll certainly be leaving Dublin in the near future,” he said. Our reader who lost their job in Paypal said they are yet to begin hunting for a new job, having heard of difficulties from previously laid off friends in their old office. “They haven’t had great luck searching for jobs so far. There doesn’t seem to be many jobs going in our skillset,” this person said. “I don’t feel hopeful that I’ll get a similar job or near to the same salary.” Brian had been working in Dublin as a lecturer in English for international students but lost the job in recent months amid a fall in enrollments. Brian, who received a redundancy package of €4,020, described the search for fresh work as “awful”. “The last time I was out of work (just after Covid) I got lots of replies and interviews,” he said. “While these didn’t always work out, at least there was a responsiveness. That seems to be gone.” Instead, he feels the job search these days is “like AI is talking to itself”. He explained: “I have to use ChatGPT to try to edit my CV so that my skills appear transferable, but I’m 100% certain they are using ChatGPT to filter applications.” It’s almost as if there is a “kind of contempt from prospective employers” that wasn’t there before, the lecturer added. “I don’t just mean not having any response to an application. I’ve had several semi-formal and formal phone calls and online interviews that have had no follow up at all.” John worked for a cryptocurrency firm and has also struggled after being laid off, which couldn’t have been at a worse time given he had just got engaged and bought a house. “As I live several hours from Dublin, I would need something remote or hybrid,” John said. “Finding work has been difficult as the market is very bad right now.” Is leaving Ireland an option for some of our readers? In the main, no. Several of those we spoke to who have found themselves unemployed have been landed in this position after years with the one employer, but at a period of time where they have children or have laid other roots by buying a home. A more hopeful experience was described by Jason from Co Dublin, who found out via a Microsoft Teams meeting that he and dozens more colleagues were being made redundant by their insurance firm. The company was moving the jobs back to the US. “It was not expected so abruptly,” Jason recalled. “We were half way through our house renovation and expecting our fourth child. Losing my job was not in our plans.” After three months spent drawing the dole, he found himself “fortunate enough to be offered a good position within another company within the same industry”. My advice for anyone that finds themselves redundant is to remain positive. “It’s tough when the routine is gone but it is only a job at the end of the day. One will come.” Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. 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