Facebook Ireland staff log some of the highest salaries in the State

Facebook’s Irish unit is cementing its reputation as one of the most lucrative places to work in the State, with mean average pay packets last year of more than €160,000 for its more than 1,300 direct employees.

The company released headline figures from its 2018 accounts earlier this week, showing sales were up €25.5 billion. The detailed financial statements have since become available in the Companies Registration Office.

The accounts show that the company’s direct employees shared a pot of more than €214 million between them in 2018, including salaries, bonuses and share awards. The mean average of €161,000 was up from €154,000 the prior year.

That average figure is likely heavily distorted, however, by the chunkier salaries of its top rung staff, such as its estimated clutch of 200 highly paid engineers and more than 300 administrators and managers.

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Most of its more than 800-strong sales and "community operations" team likely earned far less than €160,000. It is not possible to calculate the median average – the midpoint pay packet at Facebook Ireland – from the accounts.

Facebook’s cohort of workers in Ireland has expanded beyond 4,000 but the vast bulk of those are not directly employed by the business, but rather work for outsourced service providers on lower terms and conditions.

The detailed accounts show Facebook Ireland paid an interim dividend to another company in the Facebook group during the year of €20 million, although this appears immaterial when set against the scale of its operations and was likely just to help fund its immediate parent’s operating costs.