GE Woodchester to cut 143 Dublin jobs

GE Capital Woodchester, which employs 500 people in Dublin, will cut 143 full and part-time jobs at its back office operations…

GE Capital Woodchester, which employs 500 people in Dublin, will cut 143 full and part-time jobs at its back office operations in Dublin.

Staff were told yesterday afternoon that 76 full-time jobs would be cut and a further 67 part-time contracts would not be renewed. In a statement, the company said the redundancies would be phased in between now and the end of the year. Temporary contracts would be affected as they came up for renewal.

The back office unit processes business for the UK and Ireland. This will now be transferred to its centre in Shannon, Co Clare. Some functions involving UK customer services operations are being reallocated to GE Capital centres in the UK and India.

GE Capital Woodchester chief executive, Mr Sean Webb, said the consolidation of back office operations would greatly strengthen its competitive position in the Irish market. He said staff affected would be treated sensitively and would receive an "excellent" redundancy package, including out-placement assistance.

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GE Capital Woodchester is one of the main players in the car and equipment finance markets. It has relationships with 1,200 dealers and vendors in the Republic. It also has a personal consumer finance business.

In recent months the company has only been taking on new employees on short-term contracts, although staff in Dublin were not expecting the redundancy announcement.

The company insists it has a well-developed strategic plan that commits it to growing its presence in Ireland. GE Capital Woodchester is part of the US conglomerate General Electric. The Dublin office is the European headquarters for its European finance operations. The global finance operation provides financial services ranging from Harrods and Debenhams store cards to car and equipment leasing.

It is one of GE's fastest growing businesses, largely because of its rapid growth in Europe.

It employs around 2,000 people in the Republic. It has two processing centres in Shannon.

GE has always looked to source manufacturing type activities in low-cost economies. Last year, GE Woodchester moved 35 jobs from the Republic to its UK operations to streamline its cost base.