Up to 300 jobs at electronics outsourcing firm Sanmina are under threat in Lisburn as it emerged that the company is moving production to Hungary.
The company, which manufacturers printed circuit boards (PCBs), electronics enclosures and generators for computers, is understood to be in the midst of financial difficulties.
Workers have been placed on 90 days’ protective notice. Talks with the union Amicus are set to take place immediately.
The news is a devastating to some of the company’s workers, many of whom have been there for over 20 years.
The move follows a litany of electronics outsourcing firms who have left the island in recent years including Sanmina, MSL and SCI as well as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Creative Labs and Motorola who have decided to relocate to lower-cost bases.
Sanmina, which employs 600 people already in Hungary, last year closed down a manufacturing facility in Scotland.
It is understood that workers at the plant in Lisburn had been fearing job cuts since before Christmas.
By John Kennedy
