The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
SHANNON Free Zone is facing another jobs hit, with news on Thursday that electrical switchgear company Kraus & Naimer will cease production at the end of January.
It will result in 63 direct employees losing their jobs, as well as two contractors. There had already been a handful of redundancies there and staff had been on short time.
It’s understood that many of the workers have long service behind them and that union officials came to the Shannon plant on Thursday to meet with management.
Clare TD Timmy Dooley said he was sorry to hear of the jobs going. “My initial reacion is that I’m very disappointed to hear of the jobs going. It’s a devastating blow to the workforce and my thoughts are with the people losing their jobs as Christmas approaches.”
Local Councillor Sean McLoughlin also said it was a difficult time of year to be receiving the news. “It’s a big blow, particularly at this time of year. While the jobs won’t be going until the end of January it’ll still be in their minds over Christmas.”
In a statement on the Thursday, the company said; “The closure is due to the business sustaining losses for the last number of years, which have been driven by the impact of weak customer demand due to the global recession.
“The decision follows previous efforts to restructure the facility and a move recently to enter short working time arrangements.”
Commenting on the closure, Ted Naimer, Global President at Kraus and Naimer said:
“It is with deep regret we have had to make this decision which has been made due to ongoing and unsustainable losses incurred at the Shannon facility. We will be entering into a process with staff over coming days in relation to an orderly winding down of the facility, and thank them sincerely for the contribution they have made to the company.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
