Waterford Crystal is today expected to add to this week's list of job losses by announcing 200 lay-offs and a pay freeze for remaining staff.
Weak United States sales are blamed for Waterford's decision to make 100 permanent employees redundant and shed 100 contract positions at its flagship plant in Kilbarry, on the outskirts of Waterford city.
Central to an €18 million cost-cutting package due to be unveiled to the 1,600-strong workforce this morning will be an immediate pay freeze, with the company pleading inability to grant salary increases promised under the national pay agreement.
Job losses will not surprise workers who saw 94, mostly contract, employees let go in April. Last month all but 100 staff at Waterford Crystal plants in Kilbarry and nearby Dungarvan were laid off for a week as economic uncertainty caused by the Iraq war coupled with the strength of the euro against the dollar damaged sales to the US, the company's biggest market.
A slump in tourism has also hit Waterford hard with income from its Kilbarry visitors centre down significantly on last year.
Management declined to comment, but sources indicated that 200 jobs will be lost. The 100 permanent post redundancies would be voluntary, said the source.
Union officials had yet to be informed of lay-offs and would not speculate ahead of this morning's meeting.
With revenues of parent group Waterford Wedgwood dipping 10 per cent in April and May and debts mounting, further "pain" had been inevitable, sources said.
The group's determination to confront costs was ruthlessly demonstrated in June when two Stoke-on-Trent factories were closed with 1,058 job losses. Production was moved to China, where overheads are more than 70 per cent lower.
Though executives remain adamant Waterford will not suffer the same fate, pledging to keep the Kilbarry and Dungarvan factories open, sources say staff must face the reality that demand for its products has fallen markedly.
"The global economy is in downturn and people just aren't buying luxury goods like ours in the quantities they used to," one source said
Analysts said additional job losses at Kilbarry were not a surprise.
"Waterford has clearly been struggling to shrug off the effects of the economic downturn," said Mr Peter Horgan of Goodbody Stockbrokers. "The company has a bad net debt position and its markets are shrinking. It is obviously in some difficulty."
Yesterday a spokesman for the Waterford branch of ATGWU union , which represents the bulk of workers at Kilbarry, said staff were pessimistic.
"Rumours have been circulating for weeks and everybody fears the worst," he said.
Half of Waterford Wedgwood's sales are to major US store groups, which are experiencing a huge fall-off in consumer spending and are heavily discounting goods to encourage sales.
Waterford Wedgwood shares climbed one cent to 29 cents on the Irish stock exchange yesterday.
