Celestica to halve Dublin workforce of 500

Electronics manufacturer Celestica, which employs 500 people in north Dublin, is to cut its workforce by 50 per cent.

A spokeswoman for the Swords-based firm said the job cuts would be voluntary and part of the company’s global restructuring programme. However, if applications for the voluntary scheme fail to meet the target, compulsory redundancies will be sought.

A 30-day consultative period between management and employees has begun. A spokesman said the company remained committed to its Irish operations.

Celestica bought Motorola's Swords plant last year, retaining some of the workers after the US company decided to cut 750 jobs there.

In a statement, the company said an anticipated recovery for the second half of 2002 had not happened. As a result, the company has excess capacity and staffing in certain areas of the business, the statement said.

The company also pointed to difficult market conditions. In July, Celestica announced it would incur restructuring charges of between $300 million to $375 million to be recorded by fiscal year-end 2002.

Celestica has more than 40,000 employees in over 40 places worldwide and reported full-year revenues for 2001 of $10 billion.