Padd

y Power Betfair is set to release 650 employees, according to the Irish Times.

That would mean that 9% of the total workforce of 7,200 would be cut from the books, and staff have reportedly been told all along that this would occur when two people were left with the same job following the completion of the merger in February.

It is likely that 350 staff from the UK would leave the company and another 300 would sever ties with the Irish operations.

A total of 2,875 staff are based in the UK, meaning that 12% of UK employees would be leaving.

A circular was sent out to Betfair shareholders in November which said that staff cuts would account for half of the £50m savings as a result of the merger.

A majority of the 7,200 workforce would have been Paddy Power employees pre-merger, as Paddy Power had over 5,000 staff and Betfair had over 1,900 workers.

However, it is more difficult to quantify the impact at office level, as it is unlikely that staff working in Paddy Power’s retail division would be cut, given that their jobs cannot be duplicated, with Betfair not operating a retail division.

Paddy Power Betfair could not be reached for comment when contacted by Gambling Insider .