Munster suffered a double jobs blow yesterday when US company Procter & Gamble confirmed that it would be cutting 280 jobs at its plant in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and another US firm, Bourns Electronics, announced 80 job losses in Cork city.
The announcements followed recent confirmation by Canadian software company Thomson Scientific that it is to make 200 staff at its plant in Limerick redundant in a transfer of operations to India.
Procter & Gamble said in its statement that it is to transfer manufacturing of its skin-care products division from Nenagh to Lodz in Poland over a two-year period with the loss of 280 jobs.
Concern had been growing for the future of the entire Nenagh operation which employs 500 people.
But the company said that it will retain its cosmetics manufacturing division in the North Tipperary town, making the jobs of 220 workers secure.
The decision by the company to transfer production of its skin- care products to Lodz follows a year-long sourcing study by the company to identify what it described as "the optimum manufacturing locations for the European supply of skin-care and cosmetics".
According to the statement issued yesterday by the company, the decision to move its skin-care manufacturing division to Poland was a result of the growing demand for the company's products such as Oil of Olay in eastern Europe.
"Given the growth of Procter & Gamble's skin care business in central and eastern Europe, it was decided from an economic and financial perspective to locate the source of skin-care production closer to these fast growing markets," said the company.
According to the company, the cosmetics business is more complex and higher value with a greater focus on western Europe which allows the company retain its cosmetic manufacturing division at the plant in Nenagh.
All 500 staff were called to a meeting at the plant at the Gortlandroe industrial estate in the town yesterday morning when management informed them of the decision to cut the 280 jobs between now and the end of 2009.
Yesterday, after informing the workers during a 20-minute briefing, plant manager Mindy Thompson said: "This was a difficult decision taken on the basis of market trends and not a reflection of the high quality work of our employees at Nenagh.
"Our focus now is to work closely with our employees to ensure they are supported at this time and through the transition ahead.
"We will maximise the opportunity we've been given for the future of the Nenagh plant to become the focus of our European cosmetics supply chain operations."
Meanwhile in Cork, Bourns Electronics announced that it is to close its manufacturing and support centre in Cork with the loss in the first half of 2008 of 80 jobs with production being transferred to lower cost locations in Hungary and Mexico, leaving just 10 personnel in Cork.
The company, which in 1999 employed 430 people, blamed the decision to axe the Cork manufacturing operation on relentless downward price pressure in the global automotive electronic components industry.
It also highlighted the increasing costs of manufacturing in Ireland.
