Medtronic Cuts 175 Jobs in Ireland

Medtronic moved to from Minnesota to Ireland to save money on its taxes. Now it says it's cutting up to 175 jobs (previous reports said 150) in Dublin to remain competitive.

Nancy Crotti

The Irish Times reports that Medtronic plans to close a call center in Dublin and move those jobs to Poland next June, in a move to centralize its business and improve efficiency. The sales, commercial and finance teams based at the Dublin Cherrywood location will not be affected, the newspaper said.

Medtronic, which acquired Dublin-based Covidien in January 2015, employs about 4000 in Ireland.

Medtronic spokesman Fernando Vivanco wrote in an email that the decision to move the jobs from Cherrywood "to locations across Europe" came "after careful consideration."

"We now enter a consultation process and are committed to supporting the affected employees through this process," Vivanco added. "As tasks are transferred not eliminated, employees are invited to apply for relocation with the company." 

Irish Communications Workers Union leader Ian McArdle said the company broke the news to senior management in a meeting on Monday.

"Unfortunately the shocking news was just delivered yesterday and they [staff] are just coming to terms with it," McArdle told the Irish Times. "Quite understandably the staff are in a state of shock. They would have felt that their jobs were secure."

When the Covidien acquisition closed, Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak said Ireland "would inevitably be a higher-profile part of the group by virtue of its domicile in the country," the Irish Times said.

The company also promised at the time that it would add 1000 jobs in Minnesota and invest $10 million in the United States over the next decade.

The company has acquired or invested in 10 U.S. companies since the Covidien acquisition, spending more than $1 billion.