Ericsson silent on plans to cut 140 jobs

Trade unions representing workers at Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson will oppose any attempt to impose compulsory redundancies at its Irish operations, it emerged yesterday.

The company, which last week told workers it was seeking 140 voluntary redundancies, is expected to announce shortly whether it has achieved this target.

Union leaders, representing two branches of SIPTU, will meet Ericsson management next Tuesday to discuss the take-up of voluntary redundancies. But last night, Mr Michael Halpenny, branch secretary of SIPTU, said unions had clearly indicated they would oppose compulsory redundancies.

Ericsson, which employs more than 2,400 people in Dublin and Athlone, is pursuing a global restructuring which will result in the loss of more than 17,000 job losses this year. The company has already made 100 staff redundant at its Dublin operation this year.

Ericsson has refused to comment on the proposed redundancies and has not even confirmed whether it has told its own staff about them.

However, earlier this week, a senior executive at the firm said that further job eliminations may be required to meet financial targets set by the struggling Swedish mobile network equipment maker.

Mr Gary Pinkham, Ericsson vice-president of investor relations, told fund managers at a UBS Warburg conference that "more discrete actions" were in the works beyond the 26,000 job cuts made over the past year or so.

Mr Pinkham said the further reductions were necessary, and reaffirmed that Ericsson's goal remains a better-than 5 per cent operating margin for 2002.

Ericsson, the world's number one producer of mobile networks and third largest handset supplier, had said last month it expected sales of networks - which account for 80 per cent of group turnover - to be flat to 10 per cent lower next year. Meanwhile, more than 30 jobs were lost in the high-tech sector yesterday, as online recruitment firm Stepstone shut its Irish office and Berlitz GlobalNET announced redundancies.

Norwegian-owned Stepstone said it would pull out of seven international markets, including the Republic. The firm, which until recently employed 30 staff in Dublin, told its 12 remaining staff on Thursday that it would close.

Stepstone said it would also cancel its listing on the UK stock exchange to cut costs, and would concentrate its business activities in eight core markets.

Its Irish website was offline yesterday. A Stepstone spokesman said the company would retain its trademarks in the event of a turnaround in business.

Stepstone will now focus recruitment activities on Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. This week, the firm said it had raised €22 million (£17.3 million) from its existing investors. It will also seek further funds from shareholders next week. Meanwhile, global language group Berlitz GlobalNET, which employs 400 people in Dublin, announced 21 redundancies yesterday. The firm, which translates software into different languages at its Dublin headquarters, said the job cuts were a response to the global downturn.

A spokeswoman said the firm would try to assist affected staff to find new employment. Staff would receive statutory redundancy, she added.