SOME 375 workers are to lose their jobs following announcements yesterday by courier firm DHL Express and technology group Option Wireless.
DHL said it was seeking 320 redundancies as it closes depots in Athlone, Galway, Sligo, Cavan, Enniscorthy, Waterford and Tralee.
Depots in Dublin, Cork and Limerick are to be restructured.
Separately, Cork-based Option Wireless said it was making 55 staff redundant less than six months after Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan had announced the company was going to recruit 145 extra staff.
The cuts at DHL Express are part of a plan to focus more on its international delivery rather than its domestic delivery market, a spokeswoman said. However, it would continue with its domestic delivery service.
The changes stem from “examining its cost bases in the current environment”, the spokeswoman said.
The announcement was a shock to workers, who were briefed at 5.30pm yesterday, Siptu organiser Pat Ward said.
Workers, he said, had recently agreed to improvements and flexibilities, including some redundancies in Donegal.
Company representatives are to meet unions on Monday morning, and a DHL Express spokeswoman said the redundancy package offered would be “generous and in line with best practice”.
DHL Express is the courier operation of Europe’s biggest mail and express delivery company, Deutsche Post DHL. DHL employs some 300,000 people in more than 220 countries.
The company operates four divisions in Ireland, which altogether employ 1,600 people.
Deutsche Post DHL yesterday announced that the company aimed to cut its cost base further, and it would like to reach its target of €1 billion in cuts sooner than planned.
Yesterday the German-based company revealed a better-than-expected underlying operating profit for the first quarter of 2009.
Option Wireless, which is headquartered in Belgium and has facilities in Germany as well as offices in Asia, established its base in Cork in 1998, and manufactures technology devices such as USB modems that provide high-quality wireless access to the internet.
The Cork operation, which currently employs 270 people, is the company’s primary customisation site.
It is responsible for adding value to the basic product by customising it with firmware and software in a highly flexible manufacturing process to meet customers’ specific needs and requirements.
Option Wireless vice-president of global operations David Whelan said yesterday that the decision “has been taken against the backdrop of reducing demand for discretionary products in the global economy, and in no way reflects on the professionalism and dedication of the staff here in Kilbarry”.
