Fears for hundreds of jobs at outsourcing firm Covalen

There are fears of hundreds of job cuts at outsourcing firm Covalen, which provides services to social media giant Meta.

The company said it has commenced consultation with a number of employees in relation to potential redundancies within its Dublin operations.

Covalen did not disclose the number of potentially impacted employees and declined to comment on a report by The Journal that staff have been informed that 720 jobs are at risk.

"The company is engaging directly and proactively to support the affected teams through this transition and is following the required consultation process in line with our obligations," Covalen said in a statement.

"All employees continue to have access to our employee wellbeing support through Covalen's Employee Assistance Programme," the company added.

In November 2025, Covalen commenced consultation with staff in relation to a previous round of redundancies.

It was reported at the time that around 400 jobs were at risk.

In January, staff at Covalen, who are members of the Communications Workers' Union (CWU), took strike action in a dispute over redundancy pay and union recognition.

John Bohan, an organiser with the CWU, said many members are angry over today's announcement.

"Given what went on in November last year, with the previous round of redundancies, people expected further cuts down the line, but the extent, scale, and short notice of this has just really enraged many of our members," Mr Bohan said.

Covalen provides content moderation and AI training services for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Last week, Meta confirmed plans to cut around 8,000 jobs or 10% of its global workforce.

It is not yet known what impact the layoffs will have on the company's Irish operation, which directly employs around 1,800 people.

In March, Meta announced plans to use advanced AI systems in the future, which it said would reduce its reliance on third-party suppliers for content moderation.