O2 Ireland to cut 50 jobs

Mobile operator O2 Ireland is to cut 50 jobs in Dublin and Limerick as part of a cost-cutting programme.

Employees have met with management at the mobile operator today to discuss the redundancies, some of which will be compulsory.

Staff leaving the company will be offered a package consisting of six weeks pay for every year of service and two weeks statutory pay.

Owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, O2 currently employs about 1,300 people in Ireland.

A spokeswoman for the mobile operator told The Irish Times that 02 had engaged in an internal restructuring exercise which had resulted in the redundancies which would be across all departments.

As part of the restructuring exercise, O2 is also to covert 20 of its retail stores to franchisees.
Currently the company owns 52 stores with a further 23 franchise outlets around the country.

The spokeswoman stressed that there will be no redundancies associated with this move.

O2, which is the country's second largest mobile operator with about 1.7 million customers, reported a small rise in customers in its fiscal third quarter, but experienced a year-on-year fall in revenue of more than 9 per cent.

Telefonica O2 Ireland said it gained an additional 13,761 post-pay customers during the quarter. However, its pre-pay subscriber numbers fell by 12,945.

Revenue at the company for the third quarter was €213 million, up from €211 million in the second quarter, but down by about 9.1 per cent on the same period in 2008.

The monthly average revenue per user from mobile customers in the quarter fell by 8.7 per cent year-on-year, from €43.71 to €39.90, but increased slightly from the second quarter.

In May 2009, the company admitted that it had been affected by the economic downturn with monthly revenue per user (ARPU) for voice services falling. However, it stated then that it had no plans to reduce headcount at the company.