One of the Shannon Industrial zone's largest employers, Tellabs Ltd, is to lay off an estimated 98 workers.
With its US parent company based at Lisle, Illinois, the Irish company built a £22 million flagship building at Shannon two years ago which doubled the size of the plant.
The company is investing heavily in research and development and is spending over £8 million. The building was going to bring R & D staff up to 160.
A telecommunications company, Tellabs specialises in ATM technology, designed to handle different types of telecommunications traffic in a uniform way and to speed up data transfer.
Last year the company employed 550 and, in addition to its R & D at Shannon, it operates manufacturing, marketing and a service operation. It received £6.8 million in grant aid from Shannon Development up to the end of 1999.
The South African de Beers diamond company recently announced over 100 layoffs in Shannon.
