Friday was a black day for the tech sector in Limerick after it emerged that 700 workers are to be let go at Dell’s Raheen manufacturing operation, and a further 100 jobs at the Flextronics contract electronics manufacturing plant in the city are also in doubt.
Dell said yesterday that 700 temporary workers were to be made redundant.
However, it emphasised that the jobs of the 4,400 full-time staff at Dell’s operations in Ireland are safe.
According to reports, Dell said it is standard practice to let go temporary staff. However, the move raises questions as it occurs just ahead of the traditionally busy Christmas sales season, where computer sales are normally quite high.
Limerick also braced itself for bad news yesterday when it emerged that 100 jobs at Flextronics, a contract electronics manufacturer, are also in danger of being cut.
Flextronics, one of the world’s leading electronics subcontractors, currently employs 290 people.
It emerged last week that Singapore-headquartered Flextronics had to incur a write-down of 68pc on profits, despite doubling sales, because of financial troubles of its customers.
The job cuts occur in the Irish tech sector despite good news in recent weeks that Facebook was creating 70 jobs in Dublin, along with 400 from games firm GOA Games Services, and another 400 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, formerly Riverdeep.
By John Kennedy
