When the final phase of production at the Seagate Technology plant in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, begins on Monday, the operation to relocate as many as possible of the 1,400 workers in alternative jobs will move into top gear.
Over 300 temporary workers were laid off as the plant closed for the Christmas holiday on December 20th. Before they left they were offered interview skills sessions by a FAS team which moved into the plant and their availability and skills were recorded on a data base.
From January 10th, the remaining workers will be served with notice in stages, with the factory scheduled to close in mid-February. For most of these workers four weeks' notice applies and severance payments will range up to 15 weeks' pay depending on service.
Meanwhile efforts to relieve the impact of the closure have continued on several fronts. In the week before the Christmas break, 21 electronic firms from around the country visited Seagate for job fairs to brief workers on vacancies in their plants.
The firms included Dell, Intel, IBM, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, Motorola, NEC, Cabletron, Analog Devices and Berg Electronics. Positions on offer ranged from operator level to professional and technical jobs.
Similar job fairs will be held in the coming week by a number of companies based in the southeast, such as Bausch and Lomb, which recently announced major expansion plans in Waterford.
FAS, which is taking a leading role in identifying alternative job opportunities, is to continue interviewing the workforce with the aim of including details of all the employees in an information bank.
Seagate, according to workers, is providing extensive technical support on the preparation of CVs, references and job-search facilities, and with advice on social welfare entitlements.
The IDA, which has the task of securing a replacement industry for Clonmel, has undertaken a review of all the new industrial investors considering locating in the State and expects to bring potential investors to inspect the site in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Clonmel Task Force, established by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, following the Seagate closure announcement, has set up sub-committees to address specific aspects of the closure on the area. It is expected to deliver an interim report to Ms Harney next month.
A representative selected by the Seagate workers, Ms Philomena Walsh, of Clonmel, is chairing the task force sub-committee which is organising assistance for the redundant employees on career change, on retraining and jobsearch programmes, and also with advice on how to set up their own businesses.
Ms Walsh, who worked as an operative at Seagate for two years, directly represents up to 900 similar floor workers at the plant involved in the assembly of computer disk drives.
She said the plant had been in production around the clock for the seven days leading up to the Christmas break: "That, to me, was a tremendous credit to the workers because they will all be affected."
She advised all workers to avail of the training and information bank service being offered by FAS. Such information on the skills, availability and flexibility of the workforce would be available to prospective industrial clients for the factory.
Another task force sub-committee is addressing, in co-operation with the IDA, the search for a replacement industry for Clonmel and ways to utilise the Seagate premises and the workforce. And a third sub-committee is focusing on ways to help local suppliers and sub-contractors to Seagate who are facing loss of business when the plant closes.
The local authorities and chambers of commerce in a number of other south Tipperary and west Waterford towns have also begun planning to alleviate the impact of the closure on their residents.
Carrick-on-Suir UDC estimates that some 300 people from that area worked in Seagate, with many Seagate wages coming into the town each week. Cahir, Co Tipperary, expects to be hit by the loss of about 120 Seagate jobs. Residents of Tipperary town, Cashel, Dungarvan and their surrounding areas are also among the workers being laid off.