North likely to lose fewer than 30 jobs in restructuring

Fujitsu's Northern Ireland operations, which employ more than 1,000 people, are likely to escape major job losses proposed for the Japanese group in its latest restructuring programme.

It is believed that fewer than 30 jobs will be lost at Fujitsu's telecommunications division in the North, while industry sources say it is unlikely that ICL's operations in Northern Ireland will be affected. The Japanese chip and PC giant recently warned that it was expecting a net loss of £1.25 billion sterling (€1.98 billion) this year and had alerted its employees to the possibility of potential redundancies earlier in the summer.

Fujitsu yesterday confirmed that 16,400 jobs would go across the group, with two-thirds of the redundancies to take effect outside Japan. The group is a major employer in the United Kingdom, where more than 11,000 people work for ICL.

It is estimated that up to 900 jobs could be under threat at ICL's European operations, but Fujitsu has not identified the specific plants, which may be affected by the restructuring programme.

The majority of its workforce in the North work for ICL.

The Japanese group has invested heavily in Northern Ireland, although the majority of its current workforce is based in the ICL division; it plans to develop a new engineering centre in the North.

Last spring, Fujitsu announced the largest ever investment by a Japanese company in Northern Ireland; it has earmarked a £29.4 million investment to create an engineering centre for advanced communication technology products.

It is understood the centre, which is expected to create 400 jobs over the next four years, should not be affected by the restructuring programme.

The centre, which is the fourth re-investment by Fujitsu in Northern Ireland since 1996, is based in Dunloe Ewart's £30 million development in the heart of Belfast.