Hundreds Of Jobs To Go At Hibernian

A total of 580 people are to lose their jobs at Hibernian Insurance over the next four years.

The company currently employs 2,200 people in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The positions will be instead outsourced to Bangalore in India in order to cut costs.

One in five of the job losses will affect the company's headquarters in Dublin, which will remain Hibernian's corporate headquarters with overall responsibility for group strategy and operations.

Group Chief Executive Stuart Purdy said: "In common with all businesses in today's economic environment, it is imperative that Hibernian operates even more efficiently to provide best value and service to customers.

"As a consequence, we are reorganising our operations and have embarked on a major change programme. This will take three years to complete and will underpin our long-standing position as Ireland's leading multi-line insurance company.

"We regret the impact of this announcement on our employees and are committed to managing this change carefully, working closely with our employees and their representatives."

Hibernian workers union UNITE has however criticised the decision, saying it is unhappy with the situation and that it will be asking the Labour Court to look into the matter. The union is concerned about the large-scale transfer of sustainable jobs from Ireland to India, hoping it is not the beginning of a trend as Ireland faces its present economic turbulence.

(DW/JM)