Manufacturing firm to axe 75 staff

A Co Clare firm that manufactures diamond materials for the tool industry is to lay off up to 75 workers, it confirmed tonight.

Citing stiff competition from low-cost economies, Element Six Ltd in Shannon said it will shed some of the staff immediately with the remainder redundancies phased out over the next 12 months.

The well-established employer, which has been operating in the Mid-West hub since 1963, laid off 100 from its original workforce of 600 in 2001.

Element Six switched its name from the well-known De Beers brand in 2002.

The latest redundancies will be among support staff and production operations.

A spokesperson said: “This reduction in costs is necessary as the industrial diamond business is highly competitive with increased competition from lower cost economies, in particular from the Far East.

General manager Ken Sullivan insisted that the company’s business was strong and that the lay-offs will ensure continued growth and stability in the longer term.

“The company’s ability to change and adapt whilst continuing to have a good relationship with employees, unions and the community that has enabled it to grow in strength in a very competitive world wide business.

“The Shannon operation will continue to be at the front end of the business incorporating the group functions of sales and marketing, finance, processing and shipping and IT.”

Unions were informed of the redundancies yesterday evening and management discussed the situation with staff today.

Former Fine Gael TD and local councillor Madeline Taylor Quinn said today that Element Six was a long-established employer in the region and a major contributor to the local economy.

“It’s a difficult time for families with children going back to school and Christmas around the corner,” she added.

An Element Six spokesman added: “These redundancies will be open to all staff subject to the needs of the business. The company hopes and expects that the redundancies will be achieved voluntarily.

“The redundancy package will be six weeks pay for each year of service together with statutory redundancy, subject to a ceiling of two and half years’ salary.”

Element Six is the world’s leading supplier of industrial diamond materials used to make tools for drilling, sawing, cutting, grinding and polishing materials such as metals, natural stone, concrete, wood based materials, plastics, glass and ceramics.

The firm has manufacturing, processing and sales operations in several countries worldwide.

Ms Taylor Quinn called on the Government to help retrain laid-off staff and build enterprise initiatives in the area to source alternative employment for workers.

Element Six is the world’s leading supplier of high quality industrial diamond and the complementary cubic boron nitride (cBN) abrasive materials.

It has operations internationally with processing and manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, The Netherlands, China and the Ukraine.