US PC-maker Compaq is shedding 700 jobs at its Erskine computer assembly plant in Scotland and will outsource the work to a Taiwanese-owned company based in the Czech Republic, the Financial Timesreported today.
On March 16th Compaq said it would cut 5,000 jobs or 7 per cent of its workforce worldwide to cut costs after it warned that its first-quarter earnings would fall short of expectations.
The firm employs up to 2,200 people in Belfast, Dublin and Galway and has not yet said if any Irish jobs will be cut as a result of its restructuring.
The job losses were the first big casualty of the US downturn for Scotland's electronics industry - its biggest manufacturing and exporting sector - in which US companies have invested heavily.
About half of Scotland's output of computers, semiconductors and electronic components came from US-owned plants.
These cuts followed similar big moves by companies such as networking giant Cisco Systems and number two mobile phone-maker Motorola, which currently employs 7,000 staff across Scotland.
Compaq said it regretted the cuts and would remain a significant employer in Scotland where it will continue to employ more than 2,400 people at a plant in Ayr and in sales and marketing posts across the country, according to the FT.