An international restructuring plan being implemented by BOC Group, involving almost 5,000 job losses, will not affect its 250 Irish employees, a spokesman for the gas, healthcare, semi-conductor and distribution services group said yesterday.
BOC Gases Ireland has a plant at Bluebell Dublin, which produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon gas. It also owns Associated Irish Gases, the major supplier of carbon dioxide to the State's brewing, soft drinks and food chilling sectors.
The BOC Group announced that as part of a shake-up aimed at putting it back on the path of sustained profit growth, it would reduce its 41,000-strong global workforce by 3,700, including 500 in Britain, with another 1,200 jobs to go in associated companies. Around 2,200 job losses have already been announced inside the company, with another 1,500 to go over the next two years.
The cuts are part of a massive restructuring of BOC's worldwide operations in the wake of economic collapse in Asia - where BOC is the biggest international gases player - the rise in sterling and worsening problems in the global semiconductor industry.
The spokesman for the Irish subsidiary said the group's core gas business, which is the main activity in Ireland, would be unaffected by cutbacks, although operational plans might be looked at. He said turnover for the Irish operation was projected to be £48 million this year, up from £44 million last year. Five per cent growth was planned for 1999, to bring its turnover to more than £50 million. BOC Gases Ireland, which has been in the country State since 1935, has recruited an extra 30 workers since last September after it won a £5 million dispensing gases contract with Guinness Ireland. BOC also operates in Belfast, but the company stated that the 75 jobs at its distribution centre in the Castlereagh area of the city were unlikely to be affected.
Internationally, the group's problems have led to a sharp drop in profits. The share price closed at its lowest level for more than three years on Monday.
