Motorola may axe 350 jobs

Fears were growing tonight for 350 jobs in Cork after Motorola announced it will consider withdrawing all engineering works from a plant.

The mobile phone maker said it intends to enter a consultation process with staff regarding the future of the site, which could see major job losses.

As staff at the plant were told the news, opposition parties criticised the move and called on Minister for Employment Micheál Martin to intervene.

“Motorola has today informed its employees at its Cork facility of its intention to enter an employee consultation process regarding the future of the site as soon as possible,” said a company spokesperson.

“Motorola is considering a proposal to cease all engineering functions carried out at the site.

“If this proposal was to be confirmed, it would result in the vast majority of employees at the site being at risk of redundancy and could make the site unsustainable as a Motorola facility.

“Motorola fully intends to carry out the consultation process with the highest possible level of consideration for all of its employees in Cork at this very difficult time.”

The company announced earlier this month its plans to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide in the first six months of this year to reduce costs.

Fine Gael Cork South Central candidate Cllr Deirdre Clune said the job losses would be a terrible loss for Cork City and County.

“Every effort must be made to safeguard these positions, because the future of the entire plant could be jeopardised if such a large number of staff is laid off,” she said.

Labour Cllr Ciaran Lynch said the cuts would be a savage blow to the local economy and to the families directly affected.

“Motorola has been a major employer in the area for the last 25 years, and most of the jobs at risk are high-end, well paid positions,” he said.

“If these job losses are confirmed, the immediate priority must be to ensure an adequate and beneficial redundancy package for these staff.”

Kathleen Lynch, Labour Party TD for Cork North Central, added: “These are not old style jobs in heavy industry, but jobs based in the knowledge economy, an area that has contributed very significantly to Ireland’s economic growth over the past 15 years.

“This is part of an increasing pattern we have seen, with companies like this choosing to opt to relocate to Asia or other regions where labour and other costs are lower.

“There are very few companies of similar size and skill requirements in Cork and it is likely that those who are about to lose their jobs will have to move elsewhere to look for other jobs.

“This will worsen the economic consequences of the loss of such a plant.”