THERE ARE fears for the future of more than 80 jobs at a Shannon-based company, just days after another local firm confirmed it will lay off a third of its workforce before the end of October.
It is understood that 83 workers are to be let go over the next three months at Sykes Enterprises in Co Clare.
The Shannon-based technical support company has, however, declined to comment on reports that it is to make staff redundant. Workers are believed to have been notified of company plans on Thursday.
Sykes Enterprises Incorporated is a global leader in providing outsourced customer contact management and services in the business process outsourcing arena. The company has developed an extensive global reach, with state-of-the-art customer contact management. The company was first established in Shannon in 1987.
Sykes, which operates 45 centres worldwide, reported $710 million in revenue in 2007 and last March announced plans to expand its global network by opening a new contact centre in Odense, Denmark.
In June 2006, during a trade mission to Japan, then minister for enterprise Micheál Martin announced plans by Sykes to increase its workforce by 100 in Shannon.
Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said last night: “If reports are correct, then today marks another black day in the economic lifeblood of the midwest. We have over recent weeks faced a sustained and continued drain of what were once considered reliable and secure industries in this region.
“The Sykes announcement comes on the back of unemployment figures which show an almost 12 per cent increase in some areas in the last month alone – when recent losses are added to those figures then well over 500 people have lost their jobs in the region in the past few weeks. What is needed now is swift and resolute action from Government to stop the haemorrhaging of jobs from this area and to begin the economic fightback through sensible cost-saving measures and economic foresight”
Last Monday, Avocent, a subsidiary of US-based Avocent Corporation, confirmed plans to undertake a restructuring programme that will result in 64 redundancies at its Irish operations, with 57 in Shannon and seven in Dublin.
The company said the impact of the consolidation will result in a reduction in employment levels at Avocent’s Shannon operations from 160 to 103.