Worst fears of workers realised as rumours prove well founded

Yesterday's announcement by Solectron that it was closing its Irish operations was greeted with a mix of resignation and inevitability by staff at the firm's factory in the Clonshaugh industrial estate on Dublin's northside, a business park that has already seen the closure of Gateway with the loss of 900 jobs and 360Networks in the past year.

"We were expecting it. We'd heard rumours during the week. It didn't come as a surprise," said 27-year-old Mr Patrick Doyle, a process engineer at the plant.

"The market has taken a big drop and Ireland is getting a bit expensive for doing this type of business. I think pharmaceuticals is now the industry for the likes of us to get into."

Of the eight production lines that were online in the plant following the completion of last year's expansion, only three had been operational recently, Mr Doyle said. The plant had been built with the capacity to extend to 13 production lines, he added.

Just a few years ago, a job at Solectron was a much sought-after position, said Mr Doyle. "A lot of people came from permanent jobs they had been in for seven or eight years to come here because it was the place to be at the time, offering a three-day week with 12-hour shifts. The money was good," he said. But in the intervening period, the industry changed dramatically.

"This industry was booming when I came out of college," said 24-year-old Mr Tony Geraghty, who moved from Galway two years ago to work in Solectron as a process engineer. "It's on its way out now. It's going to take a while to recover. I'm lucky to be single and not have a mortgage or kids. For the rest of the lads, it's hard. It's a big blow to them," he added.

For Mr Rick Rossiter, a quality process engineer at the company, the closure, although expected, was a double blow as his wife also works at the plant.

"It's a heavy hitter for the two of us to lose our jobs at one time, but hopefully with the references we'll get from the place and the kind of work we've been doing, we'll get something," he said. "The mood is sombre. I think it's not sunk in yet. It will hit probably over the weekend exactly what's going on."