The global nature of the computer business is underlined by yesterday's announcement of 450 job losses at the Apple plant in Cork. The company may have been re-invigorated by the success of the iMac personal computer but, ironically, this achievement has spelt bad news for Cork. Apple now wants to build on its success by producing higher volumes of iMacs at a lower cost. It may be, as reports suggest, that the company plans to outsource iMac production to a South Korean conglomerate which has plants in Mexico, Korea and Wales.
There are chilling echoes in this scenario of the decision by Fruit of the Loom to relocate part of its Donegal operation to Morocco. Both companies may have a long, successful history of production in this State, indeed both remain among the largest employers in their regions. But neither can stand aloof from the relentless drive towards cheaper production costs in their respective industries. The news from Apple last night was much as expected; some 390 temporary employees will lose their jobs, while some 60 permanent staff will be offered redundancy. Last July, as part of a similar rationalisation exercise, Apple moved its printed circuit board plant to the Far East, with the loss of 150 full-time and up to 400 part-time jobs.
Inevitably, the cutbacks in Cork will raise concerns that the boom in the computer sector, a linchpin of our record economic growth, could be shuddering to a halt. But this is to misread the reality on the ground. Unlike the 450 jobs lost in Cork, the great majority of new jobs in the booming computer sector in Ireland require a high skills base. It is also the case that this State's success in attracting the world's leading computer companies is having a domino effect: Ireland may never be able to compete with low-cost operations in Mexico and the Far East but it continues to attract a large slice of the hi-tech, high-skills sector.
Indeed, the job losses at Apple came as the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, who is on a trade mission in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, announced the creation of 440 jobs by Shinko Microelectronics in a £70 million expansion of its facility at Tallaght, Co Dublin. The company, which already employs over 200 people in Tallaght, has chosen Dublin as its foothold in the EU market because of the availability of a highly-skilled workforce and because of the very advanced development of Ireland's computer industry.
For all that, the job losses in Cork, underline the constantly changing nature of the computer industry. The fortunes of individual companies will fluctuate as technologies develop and change and as lower-cost production facilities become available. Despite events in Cork, the good news is that Ireland, with its abundance of highly-skilled employment is well placed to weather the storm. But the lesson to the IDA is clear; when it comes to predicting the future shape of the computer industry nothing can be taken for granted.