More than 175 jobs under threat at National Pen in Dundalk

Covid-19 impact on US company’s business blamed for impending cuts and reorganisation

National Pen has had its European headquarters in Dundalk for more than 30 years. Photograph: Google Street View
National Pen has had its European headquarters in Dundalk for more than 30 years. Photograph: Google Street View

More than 175 jobs are under threat at National Pen in Dundalk, Co Louth, due to the impact on its business of Covid-19.

The US pen manufacturer said the pandemic and related lockdowns had hit its core customer base of small- and medium-sized companies.

“As such, National Pen has taken the difficult decision to realign our operations with customer demand. This will likely impact approximately 176 team members at our facility in Dundalk, Ireland, over the coming months, predominantly within our contact centre through the reorganisation of teams and the migration of Japanese contact-centre operations to a facility in Japan.”

‘Regrettable’

It said the decision to reorganise “is regrettable but unfortunately necessary in order to secure our long-term future”.

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Dundalk has been National Pen’s European HQ for more than 30 years. The company will continue to employ 380 people at the Co Louth facility.