Caterpillar, the American engineering group, is to cut a further 100 permanent and agency jobs in Northern Ireland as two other local manufacturers have also confirmed a total of 90 job losses.
Carrickfergus-based Schrader Electronics is to let go 42 temporary workers while Invista, another American company, is likely to reduce its employee numbers by 48.
The Caterpillar announcement on Wednesday is the latest blow for its workforce in the North which has been subject to a series of savage job losses over the last three years.
The American group has blamed “current weaknesses in the economies of some key markets” for its decision to reduce its workforce again in the North.
It said these weaknesses had reduced global demand for its products.
Caterpillar added: “The company is therefore taking necessary measures during this time to help support the competitiveness and sustainability of the business for the future.
“This includes reducing our permanent workforce by approximately 50 positions and releasing approximately 50 agency workers. We know this is difficult for our employees and their families, and resources will be provided to assist impacted employees during this transition.”
It had already shed around 55 jobs in the North to date this year as a result of various restructuring programmes.
In 2012 Caterpillar, which is headquartered in Peoria, axed more than 700 manufacturing jobs at its Northern Ireland facility, formerly known as FG Wilson.
The group currently has four sites locally - Larne, Monkstown, Springvale, and Belfast and employs around 2,000 people.
Trade unions today said the latest redundancies were proof that the North’s manufacturing industry was in “crisis”.
Davy Thompson, Unite regional coordinating officer, said the job cuts at both Caterpillar and Invista had the potential to threaten further employment along the supply-chain.
Mr Thompson said: "In the last year, there have been significant job loss announcements at Bombardier-Shorts and Caterpillar who shed 140 jobs this time last year; as well as closures announced by Michelin, JTI and Sirocco.
“In total, 2,500 high-value manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last year. The net impact of these losses is likely to multiplied three times when indirect and induced jobs lost are included.”
Before details of the various redundancies had been confirmed on Wednesday the North’s Enterprise Minister said that he believed latest labour market figures also released today contained “positive messages”.
The statistics show that the jobless rate fell in the North over the three months to September to 5.9 per cent and the total number of people out of work was estimated to be 51,000.
Last month the number of people claiming jobless benefits also fell by 1,000 to 39,700.
