Shannon diamond company lays off 150 workers
Shannon-based diamond company Element Six, formerly De Beers, said it was letting 150 of its 620 workers go by Christmas as it emerged that 5,000 private sector jobs were lost during November.
Element Six said the shedding of jobs was due to a huge downturn in business with sales running at just 50% of what they would have expected a few weeks ago.
Ken Sullivan, general manager, said: “Our major customers include those in construction, automotive, general engineering and the drilling for oil and gas. All of these are caught up in the downturn in global business.”
Element Six is co-owned by South African diamond giant De Beers and the Belgian company, Unicore.
The company also has plants in South Africa, Sweden, the Isle of Man, Britain, China and the Ukraine.
De Beers was established in Shannon in 1960.
For years it was regarded as the flagship company of the region.
Shannon-based councillor Patricia McCarthy said the loss of 150 jobs was a devastating blow for those directly affected.
Ms McCarthy said that the loss of the Aer Lingus Shannon/Heathrow service deprived Shannon and the mid-west with air connectivity which is vital to global companies such as Element Six.
Mayor of Limerick Cllr John Gilligan said: “This is a massive blow given that De Beers were the first major multinational to come into Shannon and the mid-west and one of the most prestigious companies ever to come here. It is particularly hard on workers who now face a very uncertain future as there is little change of getting jobs elsewhere in industry here.”
The company warned that the termination of the Aer Lingus Shannon/Heathrow service forced them to actively review their Shannon operation.
Two years ago the company let go 75 workers and seven years ago 128 were made redundant.
Sean Lally, president of Limerick Chamber of Commerce, said the Government needs to urgently “take stock” of what is happening with job losses.
“It has got very expensive to do business in this country and the Government now needs to lead the way in the public sector with the review there,” he said.
Former president of the University of Limerick, Dr Ed Walsh, said the country’s competitiveness had been slipping since 2001.
He said: “Industrialists do not say what they don’t like about a country, but just vote with their feet. They no longer rank Ireland as a competitive location. The Government needs to consolidate industrial relations legislation.”
Meanwhile, up to 10 redundancies are being sought from catering staff at Stena Line ferries. A source within the company said catering staff were alerted of the situation on Monday afternoon onboard the Rosslare/Fishguard express ship.
“There is a feeling among the staff that we have been cut to the backbone already.
“About seven years ago nearly half our staff was cut.
“We now fear the company will go down the Irish Ferries route.”
Eamonn Hewitt, communications officer with Stena Line, said: “We hope to be able to achieve this through voluntary redundancies, natural wastage and redeployment elsewhere.”
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