Talk Talk To Close Its Doors

The Talk Talk call centre in Waterford will today shut down with up to 600 people set to be left unemployed this evening.

This follows an announcement last month that the company would close its Irish base within 30 days.

The Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton pushed for an extension to the 30-day notice period but the request was later refused.

According to a report by RTE the staff have been offered redundancy terms of four-and-a-half weeks pay per year of service, including their statutory entitlements of two weeks.

Many workers say they are unhappy with the offer, but it is thought that most will accept it.

The job losses emerged as part of the company’s plans to consolidate its call centre operations.

Talk Talk in Waterford was one of the largest employers in Ireland’s south east, and managed the customer support function for customers based in the UK.

Established in Waterford in 1998, the centre has grew from 30 employees, to an award-winning contact centre employing 575 people. But earlier this year a number of support jobs in Waterford were cut.

The doors close just days after a devastating blow that announced a further 1,130 jobs could be under threat in Ireland.

It has been rumored that 130 jobs could be axed at Rigney Dolphin who employ around 1,000 people in three offices in Waterford, Dublin and Dundalk.

In a statement,Helen Kiely, a director of Rigney Dolphin, said it would not be commenting on reports that 130 jobs could be under threat at its Waterford facility on the IDA Industrial Estate.

Similarly Insurance company, Aviva, is restructuring its business in Ireland and there are fears that 1,000 jobs could be lost.

Aviva have met UNITE trade union officials in Dublin this week to discuss the insurance company's future in Ireland.

Meanwhile in an attempt to tackle the growing unemployment problem the Irish Government has announced its plans to publish an in-depth jobs strategy by the end of the year.

In a bid to create 200,000 jobs, Minister Bruton ,will prepare the strategy at the request of the Cabinet sub-committee on jobs.

Minister Bruton said that the plan should aspire to get two million people back to work.

"Jobs are at the very top of this Government’s agenda, and if we are to achieve the turnaround in employment that we so badly need, we must implement radical reform across every aspect of the economy," he said.

(LB/BMcC)