Jess Kelly

Not only will layoffs and transfers impact around 20% of the company's entire global workforce,

But also in a letter to staff, Mark Zuckerberg stated that success isn't a given and AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes.

The companies that lead the way will define the next generation.

Now it's thought that over 300 of Meta's 1,800 Dublin-based employees will be impacted, along with 700 workers at the third-party company Covalent,

which is a main contractor for the company.

You might remember we had some of the former employees at Covalent and indeed the representatives on this programme a wee while ago over disputes about the severance that the employees at Covalent receive.

But Meta is just one of a number of companies making cuts and citing AI as the reason.

With many now claiming these tech giants are, quote, AI washing, using the emerging technology as an excuse to reduce its headcount and therefore its bottom line costs.

So what impact will the AI effect have on the overall jobs market, which is also feeling the impact of geopolitical uncertainty?

Christopher Payne, Country Director of the Stepstone Group Ireland with responsibility for Irish jobs is with me now.

Chris, how are you?

Thanks for joining us.

So obviously, as I mentioned there, it's been a turbulent week in terms of the tech jobs market.

Before we go down that rabbit hole, can you just talk me through some of the trends that have come out from the latest research compiled by Irish jobs?

And are there certain sectors that are doing better than others?

Because again, as I mentioned at the top of the show, meta aren't the only ones in the tech sphere that are looking at either reducing headcounts or redeploying people or increasing the use of AI and all the rest.

So are there certain sectors that are performing better than others in terms of that job's growth?

When we look at the entry level jobs, this is an area that I'm fascinated by because I'm 18 years in Newstalk now, but I started as an intern making tea and coffee.

And the stuff that I learned during that internship, I think, has stood to me more than my three years of Irish and geography in UCD.

There is something really beneficial to entry level positions, but we're now seeing a bit of a trend or hearing a bit about a trend of those lower level positions not being made available in certain sectors because of AI.