650 jobs to go at Paddy Power Betfair

Guess it was only a matter of time before we got this news.

The Telegraph has reported that 650 of the 7,200 staff at the now merged Power Power Betfair will be losing their jobs in coming months.

One of the compelling reasons for the merger was an anticipated £50 million in annual costs savings. Duplicate back office and head office roles are where almost half of this £50 million in saving is going to come from.

Over the next 12 months a game of musical office chairs will see Paddy Power’s existing London offices closed, with some staff relocated to Betfair’s headquarters there. Meanwhile in Dublin, Betfair’s office will closed in favour of Paddy Power’s current digs. In all 350 positions in London and 300 positions in Dublin will be terminated via a either voluntary or involuntary redundancies.

Those given their marching orders and looking for similar roles with other operators may find it tough. Mergers and cost cutting seems to be the industry theme of 2015/16.

As for Betfair and Paddy Power live dealers, I suspect they’ll be blissfully unaware of all the upheaval happening way over on the other side of the Baltic and North seas.