Computer maker Dell is set to cut up to 230 jobs after the company told staff in Dublin and Limerick that further cuts were required as part of a $4 billion restructuring plan.
Dell had previously sought to make savings of $3 billion in its business worldwide but has now increased the figure in the face of what it has described as a “a global downturn in IT spending”.
The Irish Timesunderstands that Dell is identifying specific areas where it can reduce staff numbers and redundancies will not be voluntary.
The announcement was made at meetings with the company’s 2,300 staff this morning. The company employs 1,300 people in Cherrywood in south Co Dublin and 1,000 workers in Limerick.
Labour party TD Jan O’Sullivan said the announcement represented an economic catastrophe for Limerick and the mid-west region and a personal tragedy for those who are now to lose their jobs.
“This announcement is particularly disappointing, given that the workforce in Limerick was given an indication that they would not be asked to take any more punishment after the previous round of redundancies,” she added.
Fine Gael Limerick East TD and deputy finance spokesman Kieran O’Donnell TD said: "These are the very jobs we had hoped to build on in Limerick following January’s announcement of 1,900 manufacturing job losses in Dell…the fact that high-end jobs in business development, innovation and research and development are going is a very worrying development."
In January, the company announced 1,900 job losses at its Limerick plant following the decision to move its computer manufacturing base to Poland.