The following e-mail will be sent on your behalf.

<your name> has sent the following story to you from ElectricNews.net.

The story is available from http://www.electricnews.net/article/9957979.html

So long Moto: Cork facility to wind down
Friday, March 09 2007
by Ciara O'Brien


Motorola has become the latest high-tech firm to slash jobs
in Cork, bringing overall redundancies across Munster to
around 900 in only week.



The mobile phone giant has been a major Cork employer since
1981 -- making it one of the oldest multinationals in the
county -- and the reported 330 losses in Enterprise Minister
Micheal Martin's city in the run-up to the as yet undeclared
general election will put pressure on the Government.



Local Fine Gael election candidate Councillor Deirdre Clune
said an alternative government would have to tackle the
rising costs of doing business in Ireland.



"The loss of such a high-profile company is very worrying,
particularly when so  much energy has been invested in
promoting the hi-tech sector," she said. 



"Cork deserves much better than it has got from Fianna Fail
and the PDs. It's  time  for  a  government  that 
will  promote Cork's economy, keep  business  costs 
down  and  ensure  that  Cork retains its status as
one  Ireland's leading high-tech centres."



In a statement, the company complimented the professionalism
and talent of its largely graduate workforce and said it had
completed a 30-day consultation process to retain a small
number of employees -- locally reported as 20 staff -- who
will work from home in the area.



It is understood unions did not negotiate on behalf of staff,
but management engaged with unofficial groupings of workers.



"During the consultation period, all parties have worked
very hard to ensure that every possible avenue has been
explored. Regrettably, none of these offered a viable
alternative for continuing Motorola operations at the site,"
said the firm, which has reported 24 consecutive quarters of
positive cash flows, but expressed disappointment after its
most recent financial results did not meet internal
forecasts.



"Motorola is now beginning individual discussions with
employees and expects that the majority of employees will
leave by the end of May 2007," said the statement. 



"The company is providing assistance to all affected
employees to help them to find alternate employment as
quickly as possible. The company is grateful for the support
and assistance provided by the Department of Enterprise,
Trade and Employment, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and FAS."





Interestingly, the US telecoms firm reportedly rebuffed an
approach from IDA Ireland as far back as 2001 to consolidate
its European finance function in Cork, and delivered a
warning about rising costs for its software development unit,
which is now shedding staff.







"The  number  one  priority now is to ensure that
everything possible is done  to  ensure  that 
Motorola  staff  are  able  to  find alternative
employment  in  the  near future," said local Fine
Gael  councilor Jerry Buttimer. "State agencies must do
all they can to facilitate  staff  and  provide 
retraining. Cork has the people and the talent, and we must
ensure that it will always have the jobs."



Although a number of new high technology jobs have been
created in the area over recent weeks, most notably at EMC
subsidiary VMware which is to create more than 300 technical
support positions, the area has seemingly experienced  more
than its fair share of bad news.





"The  fact  that  this  is  happening  in 
Micheal  Martin's backyard is  particularly  worrying, 
since his job is to bring employment to Cork," said
Buttimer. "I hope  that  former  Motorola  staff 
will  be  able  to find alternative employment 
elsewhere in the Cork region, but it is inevitable that some 
will have to move elsewhere."