SOFT drink manufacturers Coca Cola Atlantic has announced that approximately 100 jobs are to be lost at its Drogheda plant through voluntary redundancies and early retirements.

This represents nearly a third of the permanent workforce of 330. In addition the company employs approximately 25 people in temporary positions and has 30 contractors who were not effected by yesterday's announcement.

Employees were not surprised at the announcement but were "shocked" at the high number of redundancies being sought. A spokesperson for the company said this was one of three measures being undertaken to improve its competitiveness in "a very demanding market". In addition to the job cuts, the company is to introduce annualised hours and a new team based work system.

It's main competitor in Europe is a sister plant in France which the spokesperson said was currently more efficient than the Irish operation. However claims that Ireland recently lost a quarter of its production when Greece transferred its contract to the French plant, were denied.

It was confirmed that last year a warehouse was built to house new equipment in the fifth expansion in Drogheda since it opened in 1975. Investment since then totals $87 million (£54 million). The company denied this was the beginning of the end and said it was instead "gearing up to compete".

The changes were announced to workers at a mass meeting yesterday afternoon. They were also told the company had established an Enterprise Support Fund which would provide practical help and advice and financial assistance to anyone wanting to establish a local business. It is also prepared to give financial help to staff wishing to retrain or further their education. The spokesperson would only say that the budget for this initiative was "very large".

Independent financial advice is also being made available for people considering taking the early retirement package.