DUBLIN, IRELAND – Covalen, a subsidiary of CPL that offers outsourced content moderation, AI training, and back office admin services, announced that around 400 employees who are subcontracted to Meta, one of its major clients, are at risk of losing their jobs.
This action follows Meta’s decision to “shed some roles in the area of content moderation due to technological advances and the greater use of AI systems to carry out the work.”
However, the company assured that it’s “engaging with the teams potentially impacted and is providing career planning advice and options for redeployment. All employees in scope have the full support of the Covalen’s Employee Assistance Program.”
Employees’ and the Union’s Response to the Announcement
Many of the affected employees are international workers who work in Ireland on visas, have mortgages, or have no safety net to fall back on. So, for Covalen to make this announcement just weeks before Christmas is just “cruel.” They feel that the company could’ve waited a little bit; they didn’t expect to find themselves out of jobs before or over Christmas.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) also feels that the employees have been “robbed” of their Christmas. It’ll be seeking a meeting with Covalen to discuss ways to “minimize potential job losses and facilitate redeployment.”
