More layoffs sought at Liberty

Staff at Liberty Insurance facing redundancy following an announcement last month have called on the US company to offer better levels of remuneration, at least on a scale comparative to that offered to workers just 12 months ago.

Liberty confirmed it has entered a consultation period with 112 employees across the island of Ireland. Impacted are workers who support Liberty’s US retail markets business.

However, the Celt has learned that the employees impacted include a sizeable number in counties Cavan and Monaghan.

One person this newspaper spoke to accused Liberty of doing a “U-turn” on 2019 commitments to create 120 jobs in Cavan over a three-year period.

Liberty says its redundancy action will not impact Liberty IT technology teams in Belfast, Dublin and Galway.

In a statement to the Celt, a spokesperson for Liberty Mutual Insurance said: “We continually explore opportunities to enhance our business and service models to gain efficiencies that will make Liberty Mutual Insurance more competitive to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers. Sometimes this results in growth in some areas of our operations, while other areas may experience a reduction in necessary resources.”

They added: “Liberty IT have recently made a significant investment in our Dublin and Galway operations and plans remain in place to grow our technology presence across the island of Ireland.”

Last year, Italian insurance giant Generali acquired Liberty’s Irish insurance business and rebranded it as ‘RedClick’.

With a workforce of over 400 across offices at 5 Townhall Place, Farnham Street, Cavan Town; in Enniskillen; and also Dublin, RedClick recently moved its Head Office & Documentation Returns facility after selling its former building on the Dublin Road to the HSE.

A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, confirmed it had “received a collective redundancy notification” from Liberty Information Technology Limited on May 19.

A spokesperson for IDA Ireland said that the redundancy announcement is a “matter for the company”.