Dundalk Chamber of Commerce president Michael Gaynor has described the impending closure of eBay’s office in Dundalk as “very, very worrying”.
Staff at the company’s base at the Xerox Technology Park were informed yesterday afternoon that the Dundalk operation was to close in quarter two next year with the loss of around 150 jobs.
Some staff members burst into tears when informed of the news, with workers congregating in the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel to let the news sink in together having been given the rest of the day off by the company.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Gaynor admitted concern about the negative impact the closure would have on unemployment levels in the town and to Dundalk’s reputation.
“It’s very, very worrying,” he said, before adding it was a “major concern to the town.”
Despite slight increases in recent months, unemployment has fallen by 10% in Dundalk since 2015 but Gaynor is concerned this progress could be wiped out by such a closure.
“Although the figure has dropped, Dundalk has been a traditional unemployment black spot so any job losses will certainly destabilise these strong growth figures that were shown between 2015 and 2016.”
He said he was “hopeful” many of the staff affected by eBay’s closure could find work in an expanding PayPal but said he didn’t have any assurances as yet if that would happen or not.