Element Six to lay off 370 workers in Shannon

The diamond manufacturer Element Six has announced plans to lay off 370 workers at its facility in the Shannon Industrial Estate.

The move is a further blow to employment in the mid-west region, which has suffered a litany of bad news on the jobs front over the past year, including almost 2,000 lay-offs at Dell in Limerick.

Element Six, which used to be known as De Beers, says its Shannon operation has the highest cost base of all its plans and continues to lose money despite a series of cost-cutting programmes in recent years.

It says it will begin closing its manufacturing and distribution activities in Shannon by the end of this year.

Just 80 jobs in R&D, customer services and group support will be kept on at the site.