PayPal cuts 164 Irish jobs, 11.9% of its workforce in Ireland, in the AI-driven restructuring

PayPal is cutting 164 roles in Ireland, 11.9% of its 1,380-strong full-time Irish workforce, across both on-site and remote staff. The company notified 29 senior agents, three team leaders and one manager first, followed by a further 131 employees across departments; the redundancies are expected to take effect between 7 and 21 October 2026.

PayPal described the cuts as removing duplication and putting clearer reporting lines in place. They are the Irish share of a global programme to cut around a fifth of the workforce and spend more on AI, and PayPal's largest Irish reduction since 2022.

Ireland is one of PayPal's largest European operational bases, so a 12% cut there is a concrete read on how deep the group restructuring reaches into European operations rather than a headline number. For European merchants the relevant question is service coverage: much of what sits in Dublin and Dundalk is merchant and consumer operations, and the same programme is what funds the AI spend PayPal is betting its turnaround on.

Whether further European sites follow before the October effective date, what PayPal says about European merchant support coverage, and whether the cuts show up in its next European volume or take-rate disclosure.

• siliconrepublic.com
• Payments Dive, 1 Sep 2026