300 jobs impacted in Wexford closure?

By Dan Walsh

Following a meeting between management and staff today (Tuesday) at BNY Mellon it was announced that it was closing its Wexford office with about 300 jobs impacted.

The global financial firm employs about 310 employees at its offices in the Drinagh Business Park on the outskirts of Wexford town.

There had been widespread reports over recent days that jobs at the firm were in jeopardy.

BNY Mellon established a presence in Ireland in 1994 and services global clients from its offices in Dublin, Cork and Wexford. It is believed that the Cork and Dublin offices are not affected by these developments.

“At BNY we continually evaluate our real estate footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently. We are intending to close our Wexford office. We remain committed to serving our clients and relationships in the Irish market and internationally,” the company said in a statement today.

The finance company said it would not be commenting during the employee collective consultations process, but it is understood around 5% of the Wexford workforce will be offered the chance to work remotely, with the remaining 95 per cent being told their jobs would be relocated or they would be made redundant.

Recently elected Wexford-based Labour TD, George Lawlor, said the situation was an appalling one for the workforce. “The manner in which the staff have been treated here is appalling. The rumours have been circulating for months about this, and to announce today that less than 5% will work from home and some of the rest will be offered redundancy, and some of the remaining workforce will be asked to relocate to Dublin if they have an Ireland only contract. It is a huge blow to the workers and their families and a huge blow to the Wexford economy,” he said.

The Financial Services Union have called on BNY Mellon to treat staff with respect and to explore all options to minimise job losses.

“The confirmation by the bank that 300 jobs are at risk follows months of rumours that drastic change was being contemplated. Staff and their families as well as local business will be shocked by this announcement. The next few weeks will be challenging for everyone involved and I would urge BNY Mellon and the Government to utilise this time to provide necessary supports to the affected employees,” stated John O’Connell, general secretary of the union.