Up to 150 workers at the AST plant in Limerick are to be let go as part of a worldwide restructuring of the personal computer manufacturing group. Workers were told of the job losses at a staff meeting yesterday evening. AST site manager, Mr Martin Noonan, said the redundancies would come into force from midJanuary. He said the terms and details of this process would be worked out with staff in the interim.
Workers leaving the meeting were reluctant to discuss the job cuts, but most were expected to find similar employment locally at companies such as Cabletron and Dell.
Dell, which employs 2,000 at Raheen, is continuing to expand its operations there and is expected to recruit more staff in the short term.
And despite an announcement from Cabletron's US headquarters yesterday that it will seek 600 job losses worldwide, local management at the Limerick plant has insisted the rationalisation will not affect its Irish operations. Like Dell, it is expected to take on extra workers at its plants in Shannon and Limerick in the New Year. It currently employs 600 in Limerick. The round of employment uncertainty was increased yesterday by an Eastman Kodak announcement that it planned to eliminate 6,600 jobs worldwide in addition to the 10,000 announced last October. But the company said its Youghal, Co Cork, operation which has already suffered cutbacks would not lose more jobs.
Meanwhile, new job projects for Limerick are expected to be announced shortly.
A statement is expected from AST management today detailing the impact on the Limerick workforce of a worldwide restructuring of its operations. The company is owned by the Korean group, Samsung, which last month warned of the need to cut back its global operations by reducing its workforce by up to 1,100.
There had been hopes that AST would postpone making a final decision about the scale of the job losses in Limerick. IDA Ireland has scheduled a series of meetings with Samsung in January to tease out the options available to support the long-term viability of its Irish operations.
These discussions are expected to continue until the end of January. However, it is thought the Irish management were keen to brief the workers on the situation as soon as possible.
AST, which was established in the area in 1994, let 90 people go earlier this year. Following the latest job losses, the company, which at one time employed more than 700, will have a workforce of around 300.
With a much depleted workforce, its manufacturing facility at Plassey, is now too large for the company. A move to another smaller site is believed to be one of the options being discussed by the company's Korean parent and IDA Ireland.
Meanwhile, IDA Ireland could broker a deal with Dell to take over the AST building. Dell is rapidly outgrowing its manufacturing plant at Raheen.
The job losses are the second this month in the computer sector, and follow Seagate's decision to close its plant at Clonmel with the loss of 1,400 jobs.
