Another 130 people will lose their jobs as a result of cutbacks at Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson and Wexford Electronics, a manufacturer of motor harnesses.
Ericsson Ireland's 2,500 Irish staff were told staff numbers will need to be cut by about 100 to meet the Irish operation's share of cost savings required throughout the group. Wexford Electronix, which laid off 10 workers a fortnight ago, confirmed yesterday it would shed a further 30 jobs between now and mid-July. The company employs 425 people.
Managing director of Wexford Electronix, Mr Brian Gill, said the lay-offs in his company were due to a weakening in the vehicle-build rates of its customers, particularly JCB which has been hit by the foot-and-mouth crisis in Britain, the slowdown in European motor industry sales and the US recession.
The news at Ericsson is not as bad as it might be. Globally, the company has announced plans to lay off 12,000 of its 100,000 employees, due to a slowing market in telecoms.
Employees at Ericsson's Dublin and Athlone offices were invited to take up a voluntary severance package in an internal e-mail on Friday.
Mr Dermot Kennedy, Ericsson Ireland communications manager, said it would take until the end of July or into August for the exact implications of the redundancy request to become clear. "It is a voluntary scheme. We have a cost savings target, not a headcount target," Mr Kennedy said.
Mr Kennedy sent an e-mail to all staff on Friday stating the need for a reduction of employee numbers of about 100 as part of an initiative to achieve "repeatable savings of circa £30 million [€38 million]".
"Though we are not recruiting, and our headcount is reducing by not replacing leavers, we still need to further reduce headcount to achieve repeatable savings of circa £30 million," the e-mail stated.
Mr Kennedy said he could not comment on what would happen if Ericsson did not receive a sufficient number of voluntary redundancies.
"I don't know how it will evolve - there are internal documents going around but there are different theories as to what numbers we are talking about."
The Irish redundancy package, which is open to all permanent employees with two years or more service, will provide for lump payments at a rate of five and a half weeks basic pay per year of service with a maximum entitlement to four years of basic pay, excluding the statutory entitlement.
