Tech sector redundancies: what accountants need to know

A wave of redundancies across Ireland’s technology sector has put employment law at the top of the agenda for accountants advising clients, writes Emma Richmond

The technology sector has accounted for a significant share of the redundancy activity visible in the Irish market over the past twelve months.

Restructuring announcements among multinationals with substantial Irish operations have moved the conversation from the boardroom to the headlines, and Irish-headquartered tech businesses are facing similar pressures.

What is happening in tech is not isolated, however. Cost pressures, the steady adoption of new technology within business processes and the recalibration of headcount against revenue are showing up across other sectors too.

For accountants for whom redundancy has become a recurring part of client conversations, here are three points worth noting:

What clients tend to get wrong

The single most common mistake employers make is not at the end of a redundancy process but at the beginning.

The role being made redundant must actually be disappearing—not the person who has been employed in that role.

When this distinction is in any way unclear, what was framed as a redundancy can be recharacterised as an unfair dismissal, with significantly higher exposure at the Workplace Relations Commission.

The second most common mistake involves process:

• consultation is non-existent, too short or too narrow;
• the criteria used to select redundant roles cannot be defended objectively; and
• the paperwork does not match the conversation in the room.

These are all problems that are difficult to repair after the fact and easily avoided if discussed in advance.

For accountants, the practical takeaway here is that an early conversation, before any decision is finalised, adds the most value.

By the time redundancy letters are issued, room for adjustment has narrowed considerably.

The wider legislative picture

Redundancy in Ireland does not sit in isolation. Several pieces of employment legislation are either now in effect or about to land and they will change the conversation on both sides of the redundancy table.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive is the most significant of these. The transposition deadline is June 2026. Although Ireland’s implementing legislation will not make this date, employers will still need to be ready.

New reporting obligations on pay and pay gaps are coming, and individual employees will have stronger rights to information about how their pay is set. Pay transparency interacts with redundancy directly. Severance discussions and enhanced packages will no longer occur in a vacuum.

Auto-enrolment for retirement savings is also being phased in, and pension contributions will need to be built into the overall cost of the employment relationship both during employment and at its end.

Statutory sick pay continues to expand. The right to request remote working under the Work Life Balance Act 2023 has changed how disputes about flexibility are escalating to the Workplace Relations Commission.

None of this stops a business from carrying out a redundancy. Each of these developments, however, may impact how it is done.

The accountant’s role

For accountants, redundancy work is rarely about being “the lawyer” in the room. It is about being the trusted adviser who sees the issue early, asks the right questions and brings in the right people at the right moment.

Tech sector clients are dealing with this in real time. Other clients will be dealing with it shortly. The accountants who handle it well are the ones who have already had the conversation with their clients about what good preparation looks like, before there is a live issue on the table.

Emma Richmond is Managing Partner and Head of Employment at Whitney Moore