Bausch & Lomb confirms plan to axe 120 more jobs

Global eye care giant Bausch & Lomb is to shed 120 jobs at its south-east plant as it looks to cut costs and shift part of its Irish operation to the US.

It is the second major employment blow for the region in a week, following manufacturing plant ABB’s announcement it was closing with the loss of almost 180 staff.

Bosses at the Waterford plant said they plan shipping some of the contact lens production to the firm’s New York headquarters where manufacturing costs are lower.

Colum Honan, general manager of the Waterford plant, said he regretted the voluntary redundancies.

However, Waterford Mayor John Halligan demanded the Government now take urgent action to shore up employment in the region.

“As well as the higher profile job losses at companies like Waterford Crystal, ABB and Bausch & Lomb, there has been a steady drip of less prominent redundancies at workplaces across every sector in Waterford during the last year and this will continue without serious Government intervention,” he said.

Bausch & Lomb, which has been in Ireland for almost 30 years, employs 1,200 people at its Waterford site which manufactures contact lenses and other eye health products.

Mr Honan said the company was committed to ensuring the growth of the Waterford site but was moving production of some of its range of PureVision contact lenses to Rochester, New York.

The company also said bosses would meet with the remaining workers to negotiate a longer working week, shorter holidays and other ways to shave costs.

However, wage cuts are understood not to be on the cards.

“We are committed to returning the Waterford facility to a position where it is once again the best-performing and most innovative plant owned by Bausch & Lomb,” Mr Honan said.

“We hope we can achieve this with the support of our employees through significant reduction of costs, improved productivity and more flexible working arrangements, while maintaining the highest standards of customer service, quality of product and innovation.”

Mr Halligan said his thoughts are with the workers.

“They will enter a very difficult labour market and, while retraining may be an option for some, it is difficult to see where the replacement job opportunities will be for them in at least the short- to medium-term,” he said.

“It is also a reality that almost 200 employees already agreed to leave the company earlier this year which suggests most with an interest in voluntary redundancy will already have left.”

Last Thursday manufacturing plant ABB announced it was closing its Waterford factory after 58 years with the loss of almost 180 jobs after orders all but dried up in the property crash.

It built distribution transformers, a component for power supply for the construction and utility markets in Ireland and the UK.

In a statement the firm blamed a shrinking order book for the closure.