Staff have been informed that restructuring at foreign exchange software development firm Cognotec will result in the loss of up to 40 jobs.
The majority of Cognotec's 190 employees are based in Dublin, where most of the losses will occur.
A spokesperson for Cognotec said that over the last 18 months the firm had successfully rolled out its RealStream product, which streams foreign exchange pricing and execution information for financial institutions.
Mike Thrower, the company's head of sales and marketing, said that over the last 18 months RealStream cost €20m and took 150 man-hours to develop.
To develop RealStream Cognotec had also doubled its workforce. Mr Thrower said: ‘Having successfully completed RealStream, regrettably we now need to reduce slightly our development headcount.’
He also said that the product had been very well received, and the product's pipeline for 2007 was very good.
Thrower said Cognotec sees Dublin as a great market for hiring technology professionals and that the firm is working closely with each of the people affected to place them in employment elsewhere.
He said the staff are very highly skilled, and he is confident they will quickly get new roles elsewhere, and that Cognotec is working with its technology partners to place affected staff.
Cognotec was set up in Dublin in the early 1990s. It has operations in Dublin, London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore.
In the past few years Cognotec's finances have improved - revenue for 2005 was $28m compared with $18m in 2004. Net profit after tax was $4m in 2005, compared with $1.5m in 2004.
Demand for financial dealing software is increasing. Industry sources say current trade is at $2 trillion a day and that is forecast to reach $3 trillion daily by 2010 - over three-quarters of this trade is electronic.
Zomax put Santry staff on protective notice
100 staff at Zomax have been put on protective notice in Santry in Dublin following a warning from employers yesterday that a major contract has not been renewed.
Zomax is a US business services firm employing 255 workers in Santry and Blanchardstown.
In a statement, the company said that employees in Blanchardstown will not be affected.
Elsewhere, job cuts could also be on the way at BT Ireland. The company says the Irish market is challenging, but that it is committed to its growth strategy and investment in market segments.
