Waterford to lose 178 jobs in shock blow

COMPONENTS producer ABB has become the latest manufacturing company to shed jobs due to a downturn in demand.

In a week in which 400 job losses have already been announced, ABB said it had decided to discontinue operations at its manufacturing unit in Waterford by the end of next March with the loss of 178 jobs.

“The closure is as a result of significantly lower orders and lack of potential business in the markets served by this unit, making it unviable,” it said.

“The company has now entered into a consultation process with its unions and employees and will do its best to support them in every possible way.”

ABB manufactures distribution transformers for the construction and utility markets in Ireland and Britain. The factory has been in operation since 1951 and joined the ABB group in 1992.

ABB said it remained fully committed to the market in Ireland and to its operations in Tallaght, Longford, Dundalk, Cork, and Lisburn in the North.

SIPTU organiser Ger Malone, who represents 114 of the workers, is to meet management at ABB this morning.

She said many of the workers had young families, and the union would “be seeking the best redundancy terms possible for everyone losing their job”.

On Wednesday, Cadbury announced it was letting 200 of its 1,100 staff go as part of a cost-reduction plan. The affected staff are in the Coolock and Rathmore plants.

And up to 190 jobs are expected to be lost after the decision by Tom Hogan Motors, which has its headquarters in Galway, to go into voluntary liquidation.

From the start of the year to the end of May, there were almost 36,000 redundancies notified to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment – 24,944 men and 10,981 women.

On a more positive note, IBM yesterday announced it was creating 100 jobs in Dublin, Cork and Galway in a €25 million investment.