Shannon diamond company lays off 150 workers

PRIVATE sector job numbers plunged further yesterday with 150 immediate redundancies announced at one of the first multinationals to set up in this country.

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.