SOME 118 jobs will be shed before Christmas at the Limerick company Flextronics. Members of the trade union Siptu were informed of the extent of the job cuts by officials at a special meeting held in Limerick over the weekend.
Last month, it had been feared that 100 jobs of the 290 were at risk at the Raheen facility, which is dependent on business from neighbouring computer giant Dell.
At last Saturday's meeting the company proposed 130 redundancies, but following negotiations with Siptu this number was reduced to 118.
It is the second blow for the Raheen Industrial Estate in Limerick where also last week it was confirmed that Banta Global Turnkey is to shed 65 jobs.
Banta is a major supplier to Dell, where some 700 temporary workers were recently let go sparking fears of more job cuts at Limerick's biggest employer.
The 118 jobs losses at Flextronics will be made up of 64 compulsory redundancies with the rest consisting of voluntary redundancies and those on temporary contracts. The severance package for compulsory redundancies is 6½ weeks for every year worked.
The cuts are due to begin in the next two weeks with all 118 jobs due to be gone by Christmas.
A ballot on the proposals is expected later this week, according to Siptu spokeswoman Karan O'Loughlin.
"I know it's very hard for people, but this company has been through hard times before and they've come out the other end so we are optimistic that the core business is solid and maybe over the next 12 months we can work towards increasing the numbers again as they actively pursue new business," she said.
Speaking after Saturday's meeting, which was held in the Southcourt Hotel in Limerick, some Flextronics workers said they still weren't clear what was happening in relation to their jobs.