TROUBLED Apple Computer company last night announced details of a restructuring that would see the elimination of 2,700 full time jobs, a quarterly charge of $155 million (£99 million) and the shedding of certain product lines. A spokesperson for Apple's operation in Cork said last night: "We do not expect this restructuring to impact upon us. Our employee numbers would alter in response to demand for our products in the European market. Apple has made a commitment to manufacturing in each of its geographical areas and we expect this to be maintained."
Apple employs 1500 at its manufacturing and R&D plant in Cork. The plant supplies all European demand for Apple product and spends an estimated £120 million in the Irish economy every year. The IDA has estimated this creates an additional 2,500 jobs.
"The top priorities guiding our reorganisation are the rapid delivery of distinctive products for our loyal business, education, and home customers, and the development of a robust next generation operating system to carry them into the future," said Apple chairman Mr Gilbert Amelio.
"We can best achieve these goals by streamlining our organisation, simplifying our product lines to deliver fewer but much stronger models, and stopping investments in activities that are not central to these core businesses."
Apple has lately been grappling with slumping sales and declining market share.
The company last month announced the broad outlines of the reorganisation, which it said would focus research and development on products central to its key businesses and unify multiple marketing groups.
The restructuring would require the lay off of approximately 2,700 of Apple's 11,000 full time employees at an estimated charge of $155 million, which will be applied to earnings in the second fiscal quarter, ending on March 31st.
In addition, some 1,400 part time posts will be abolished.
Products that will be maintained as part of the Macintosh operation system but receiving reduced investment include Open Doe component software technology, Cyberdog, Open Transport, Game Srockets, and Mac OS Development Tools.
Technologies that Apple will not continue to fund include the Video Conferencing Solution and AIX Server Software.
"With this restructuring, and the painful decisions that have come with it, we are addressing the problem of resource fragmentation and the resulting weakness," Mr Amelio said.
"We will limit our focus and put significant muscle behind targeted efforts."
The new measures are the latest in a series of reorganisations that are reported to have left employees discouraged.
