Microsoft Corporation, the US software firm that employs 1,700 people in Dublin, is cutting 113 jobs at its Sandyford offices following a review of its operations.
Staff were told at a meeting in Dublin yesterday the restructuring would result in at least 55 compulsory redundancies within the firm's localisation team for Microsoft's flagship Windows product.
Employment at the firm's localisation team - which works to translate Microsoft's software products into different languages - will fall from 202 staff to just 35 staff. The cuts were made in Dublin because Microsoft has decided to centralise its localisation in the US.
However, Mr Joe Macri, general manager of Microsoft Ireland, said yesterday many of the staff would be offered the prospect of relocating to either Microsoft's US headquarters or to one of its European subsidiaries.
Staff would also be able to apply for jobs at a new software engineering team to be set up in Dublin. This team of about 54 staff will be involved in the core design of Windows software - the application that features on more than 90 per cent of the world's computers.
Microsoft said these staff would be involved in cutting-edge development of the firm's new Windows system, due for release in 18 months. They would be employed to tailor the latest Microsoft Windows software during its development phase to suit customers' needs in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Mr Macri said news of the redundancies was unfortunate and the firm would concentrate during the next four to six months on relocation, and enabling staff to apply for the new development jobs.
But he said Microsoft had decided to reduce the headcount in the Republic for strategic reasons rather than any cost issues. "The cost of doing business in Ireland is not an issue; rather it's how best we can develop our software."
But the job losses at one of the State's flagship technology firms, which has so far managed to avoid large-scale redundancies during the downturn, will be a concern for Government.
Last night Fine Gael TD, Mr Phil Hogan, said the job losses at Microsoft were another example of the economy's uncompetitiveness. "There is no doubt that direct and indirect costs are now contributing enormously to job losses in all sectors, but especially in the technology sector."
Microsoft will today announce it will provide the underlying code of its Windows operating system to government and government agencies free in an effort to encourage them to use it. The decision to reveal the code is a surprise. The code was described last year by Mr Bill Gates, chairman, as his company's most critical intellectual property. The move is aimed at strengthening Microsoft's position in the government software market. - additional reporting (Financial Times Service)
