Athlone"s Ericsson escapes job cuts

Ericsson workers in Athlone breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday last after it emerged the company"s local base would not be affected by job cuts in Ireland. Rumours of possible job losses had swept Athlone when a two-hour notification of a mass meeting of all workers in the Radisson SAS Hotel was given to staff shortly after noon on Thursday. Workers who disembarked from private hire buses engaged by the company and who quietly filed into the wedding and banqueting room at the hotel must have feared the worst as they prepared for a presentation by company management. However, on this occasion, it was their colleagues in Dublin"s Clonskeagh who faced the brunt of the cuts, with news emerging that 300 job losses in the R&D section would take place over the next 18 months. Workers were instructed not to speak to the waiting media outside the Radisson SAS Hotel on Thursday, and there was an understandably sombre mood among staff as they made their way back to the waiting buses. Meanwhile, Deputy Mary O"Rourke said Athlone had felt the touch of the harsh winds of unemployment, when fears grew of possible Ericsson job losses. She expressed her relief at the fact that Athlone"s facility had escaped unscathed. However, she stressed the need for vigilance in working to keep jobs in Ireland. To that end, she has tabled a motion for this week"s Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting which calls for companies in receipt of grants from State employment agencies to provide early notifications of possible job cuts to the State. The motion reads: 'In view of the serious job situation, the parliamentary party urges all companies under the aegis of IDA and Enterprise Ireland to implement an early job loss notification system allied a strong job retention strategy.' She said companies needed to introduce such a warning system at an early stage which involved notifying the State of potential job losses in order to allow the Government and the State agencies to see what could be done to retain the posts. Fine Gael Longford/Westmeath Senator Nicky McFadden said that while she was relieved for workers at the Athlone plant, her deepest sympathies went to those affected in Dublin. 'Reports were that jobs were to be lost both at the Dublin and Athlone divisions and while I am relieved that jobs have been secured in the midlands, my heartfelt sympathy goes to the workers in Dublin who will be devastated by today"s announcement. 'Athlone has always been a very successful location for Ericsson and I have been informed that the order book at the plant is full. The company has provided many jobs in the area and has recently taken on highly educated graduates from the area. It is regrettable that Ericsson felt that a move such as this was necessary. It signals a worrying development in our dire economic circumstances.'voiced Hogan confident of minimal job losses if any at Ericssons Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Hogan said he was confident that there would be few if any jobs lost in Athlone. 'I received numerous phone calls last week in relation to this issue and the concern that existed amongst local people. The firm in Athlone currently employs in the region of 600 workers at its plant in Blyry Industrial Estate. 'I am delighted to say that reports that I have received indicate that few if any jobs will be lost in Athlone and the 300 jobs lost are all in the Clonskeagh plant in Dublin. 'If there was an announcement of job losses at the Blyry plant, it would have a devastating impact on the local economy but thankfully this isn"t the case. 'The Live Register in Athlone has increased from 2720 in December 2008 to 3083 in January 2009, an increase of 363 over that short of a period. 'I am calling on the Government to initiate a job creation strategy and retain the jobs that currently exist,' concluded the Sinn Fein Councillor. The company wants to relocate the work at the research and development section at Clonskeagh to a lower cost base for the next ten years. Ericsson Managing Director and Country Manager for Ireland John Hennessy said: "This is part of the action being taken around the world to consolidate operations into fewer locations. 'The objective is to safeguard and strengthen the company"s operations for the future. It is unfortunate but inevitable that some of our local operations in Ireland would be affected.' Asked if Ericsson jobs were safe in Athlone and Dún Laoghaire, Mr Hennessy said: 'There are no plans for anything else but in the current economic climate you can never say never. But we have a lot of high-level activities in Ireland and they would be secure.'