Over 700 jobs to be lost at Motorola plant in Swords

Some 750 jobs are to be lost at Motorola's manufacturing facility in Swords, County Dublin, following the sale of the plant to Canadian electronics manufacturer Celestica. Motorola currently employs 1,400 at the plant, and Celestica will retain 650 of the staff while the rest have been offered generous redundancy terms, according to a Motorola spokesman. The decision to sell the plant is part of a global restructuring by Motorola in the face of tight competition and dwindling margins in the mobile phone business.

A total of 2,700 staff are to be laid off worldwide. "Motorola must remain nimble and stay ahead of the marketplace in order to retain and grow its position as a technology leader," said Motorola chief executive Christopher Galvin. Celestica will continue to make Motorola phones in Ireland as part of global manufacturing deal with an estimated value of $1 billion over the next three years. Celestica already employs 400 people in an adjoining manufacturing facility in Swords.

The Tánaiste has expressed her disappointment at the loss of employment at Motorola. Mary Harney said that there are a number of firms in the electronics sector currently engaged in recruitment campaigns in the Dublin area and she was confident that the employees would be able to find alternative employment. She added that she was only aware of Motorola's decision in the past 24 hours but after meeting with the company last night, she said: "I am confident that an attractive severance and support package will be available within a reasonable timeframe so as to ease the transition to new employment." The Tánaiste said that she was pleased that Celestica has managed to complete its deal with Motorola so quickly with the result that 650 jobs in the Swords operation can be guaranteed. "Celestica will now employ more than 1,000 in their Swords operation and I wish them well in the expansion of their Dublin base," the Tánaiste concluded.