WORKERS SPOKE of big mortgages to pay and a feeling of heartbreak at the announcement that the Hormann Electronics plant in Cork was shutting its doors for the last time yesterday with the loss of 138 jobs.
Staff were called to a meeting at the electronics contract manufacturing plant in Blackrock in the city yesterday at 11am and informed that 117 would lose their jobs immediately. Twenty-one office workers will retain their positions until the end of the month.
David Gilbert of BDO Stoy Haywood in London and Liam Dowdall of BDO Simpson Xavier in Dublin, had been appointed joint receivers of Hormann Electronics Ltd on May 9th last.
Having conducted an immediate business review, the joint receivers concluded that it was necessary to close the business with immediate effect. Mr Dowdall said in a statement that there was a sense of "real regret" about having to cease trading.
The closure has been attributed to "challenging market conditions". Founded in 1977 as Hormann Security Systems, this Cork-based electronics manufacturer has weathered a series of storms in its 31-year history.
Acquired by Racal Chubb in 1987, it went through its first management buyout two years later, beginning the shift from OEM (original equipment manufacturer) status to getting into electronic contract manufacturing and product assembly. Ten years later the company was again bought out, this time by APW.
The company was the subject of a management buy-out only three years ago when a €2.5 million capital investment was made.
Margaret Kearney, chairwoman of the Hormann Employee Association, said the closure was the latest in a series of bad news for the Mahon/Blackrock area.
Over the last few years local industrial parks have seen Bourns, Motorola and Ridge Tool close down with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Ms Kearney said she felt particularly sorry for younger couples who worked onsite as they were left wondering how to pay huge mortgages.
"There are two couples working here so that is four incomes gone. These are the type of people I feel sorry for. One man is working there 24 years and his wife is there 11 years. It has been a hard week. People that have never lost their temper lost it this week. There are a lot of married men and women. It is tough. And people don't know what to do next."
Her colleague Linda O'Sullivan from Parklands in Cork, who has been with the company for 12 years, said employees were used to weathering storms but they always managed to pull through.
"We have people working here a long time. Some people are here up to 25 years. We have always had hard times but we always got through it. We never thought it would be like this. We were called down to a group meeting and we all got a letter and that was it. I feel so sorry for people who just bought houses and there is another girl on maternity leave who is due to give birth in a couple of weeks to twins. We have had loads of orders coming so there is no reason to close. All we are getting is statutory redundancy."
Ms O'Sullivan's co-worker Ellen Corcoran, who has been with the company for 13 years, received the news yesterday morning when she was at home on maternity leave minding her four-month-old daughter. She was due back to work in June but went to the plant yesterday morning to get an update on her job.
She said it was heartbreaking leaving the plant as they were literally "changing the locks on the doors" as staff departed for the last time.
A fourth worker Una Madden from Ballinlough in Cork said she was worried about having to "start all over again". She joined Hormann's from Fás 16 years ago and is now facing into claiming rent allowance to pay for her apartment.
Hormann's has been assembling and testing printed circuit boards in Cork for more than 30 years. However, faced with competition from eastern Europe and the Far East, Hormann Electronics ran into financial difficulty in recent months.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan described yesterdays decision by the company as very disappointing.