Element Six, a world leader in synthetic diamond super-materials and member of The De Beers Group of Companies, has today (Friday) announced the creation of a further 100 jobs at its Shannon facility as part of a €7 million investment at the plant this year.
The investment – officially announced today at a briefing at the plant hosted by Element Six Executive Director of Operations Ken Sullivan and attended by Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Pat Breen and the company’s global CEO Mr. Walter Hühn – will bring to €40 million the overall spend by Element Six at Shannon over a four year period.
The positions are in the areas of supply chain, engineering and manufacturing, with recruitment already underway and all posts set to be filled in the first half of this year. It is the latest round of recruitment at the company and will bring overall employment at Element Six in Shannon to 550.
The company has invested heavily in infrastructural projects at the plant over the past three years, including the installation of large-scale diamond synthesis presses to produce diamond materials for industrial use. In addition, high end CNC machines have been designed and installed to process these materials. Today’s announcement signals another round of investment that will enable the synthesis and processing of diamond materials at the Shannon plant for use principally in the Oil and Gas industry.
Announcing the investment and job creation at the plant this morning, Mr Hühn said: “This is a significant moment for Element Six and its staff in Shannon as it is validation of the hard work of our management and staff here in turning the business around. Thanks to a culture of continuous improvement, the use of world-class manufacturing techniques and efficiency and quality gains, our Shannon operations have now taken on additional, global cutting-edge processes, leading to this investment and considerably enhanced employment levels.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.