Electronic components company Flextronics is letting go up to 200 permanent and temporary staff from its plant in Cork, staff were told yesterday afternoon.

A spokesman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said it was his understanding that 90 of the jobs to be lost were permanent and the rest were temporary positions that it was expected would be lost at this time of year.

He said the company was seeking voluntary redundancies from the permanent positions. An IDA Ireland spokesman said it had been informed of the decision yesterday morning. He said he understood another 50 temporary contracts were due to end this week, bringing the total intended reductions in the workforce to 250.

A Flextronics spokesperson could not be contacted.

It is understood the job cuts result from the loss of a significant contract for the supply of memory boards to another Cork-based company, EMC in Ballincollig. The contract has been moved to the Far East, where the boards can be produced more cheaply.

The IDA spokesman said the electronics sector was still in the doldrums worldwide and cutbacks were a sign of the lack of any sign of a revival.

"The sector was expecting an uplift later this year but now you are looking at next year at least before there will be any revival."

He also said the sector employed a lot of temporary workers who tended to be let go in the summer months.

Yesterday, SIPTU said the electronics company had been in regular contact with it regarding the contract, that it had been aware the company was facing a downturn in business, and that the job losses had not come as a major surprise. Up to 800 staff will remain working at the plant, where a downturn in the market saw 200 previous job losses incurred between August and October 2001.

However, SIPTU said it was hopeful its members would be reinstated soon, as the company is confident of securing a number of other contracts.

Last year, the multinational closed its Limerick and Tullamore operations, with the loss of 680 jobs.

At the time the company - which manufactures components for computer games and consoles - blamed the continuing weakness in the global electronics sector.

Labour Party TD Ms Kathleen Lynch expressed her sympathy for the Flextronics employees and said the job cuts were part of a disturbing trend that has seen hundreds of Irish jobs relocated to low-cost labour markets in the Far East this year.

"The Tánaiste must intervene to prevent this haemorrhaging of jobs in the telecommunications, IT and electronics sectors that have been part of the country's economic growth in recent years."

Flextronics has its headquarters in Singapore and is a leading electronics manufacturing services provider focused on delivering operational services to technology companies.

It has a multi-billion euro turnover and employs approximately 95,000 people in 29 countries on five continents.

The company's shares are traded on the Nasdaq.

The job cuts in Cork come in the wake of cuts in Lucent Technologies in Cherrywood, Co Dublin, where 120 people are losing their jobs, reducing the number at that plant to 50.

A further 350 people are employed by the US telecoms giant in a plant in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.