A WEXFORD company is moving some of its operations to China resulting in the loss of 82 jobs by the end of the year.
Carl Zeiss Vision told its 100-strong staff yesterday its manufacturing and supply chain activities would cease. These will move to China as the company looks to reduce its manufacturing costs.
Some 18 employees will be kept on in Wexford to work in sales and technical support.
Breaking the news to employees, Ian Rawcliffe, senior vice president of Carl Zeiss Vision International; and Derek Mernagh, general manager of Carl Zeiss Vision in Ireland, said the job losses are likely to happen on a phased basis.
The company, which makes lenses for spectacles, will now enter a 30-day consultation period with affected employees and their representatives.
The announcement follows “an exhaustive review of Carl Zeiss Vision’s global operations in recent months to assess how the company could best align its cost base with its revenues”, after which it concluded there was “a need to further consolidate its global manufacturing base”.
“Given the extremely challenging environment in which we operate today we have no choice but to adapt our organisation given the cost pressures we face,” Mr Rawcliffe said.
“Over recent months our company has reviewed our various businesses and we must consider difficult decisions to manage the challenging economic environment dominated by a need for lower manufacturing costs,” he added.
Carl Zeiss Vision, formerly Sola Lenses, has been in Wexford for 30 years and was one of the county’s biggest employers before gradually reducing staff numbers over the past decade.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said he was disappointed to learn of the job losses in his home town, describing it as “a severe blow” .
He said he was aware of IDA efforts to protect employment adding: “It is deeply disappointing that the German parent company of Carl Zeiss Vision has decided to cease investment in the Wexford plant.”