Employees at the German-owned car components company, Kostal, have been told the company is seeking 300 redundancies between its two factories at Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick and in Mallow in Co Cork.
All staff are to be put on short-time working until March.
200 voluntary redundancies are being sought in Abbeyfeale with another 100 in Mallow.
In a statement, the company said a fall-off in the global car market had contributed to the decision. It said there has been a 30% reduction in orders last year and that was not expected to improve given the current difficult economic circustances.
It added that it is committed to maintaining its Irish operation in the future and will be meeting with unions next week to discuss how best this can be achived to procure a long-term strategy for the future.
More jobs to go around the country
SITEL, which runs customer services on behalf of a number of multinational companies, is planning just over 150 redundancies by the end of March at its operation in Dublin. A spokesman confirmed that the company had entered into a consultation period with workers on the plan. SITEL had been operating a call centre for eBay at the internet auction site's facility in Blanchardstown.
The company is a subsidiary of the US-based SITEL Corporation, which employs 66,000 people worldwide. It will no longer have any businesses in Ireland when the Blanchardstown operation is ended. In 1999, it handled the registrations for the Eircom flotation.
Meanwhile, 120 jobs are to go in Tralee, Co Kerry. Amann Industries Corporation announced today that management will enter into immediate talks with workers' representatives aimed at reducing the workforce from 340 to 220 during 2009.
Taconic International in Mullingar Co Westmeath has also announced the closure of its ADD Plant in the town resulting in the loss of 32 jobs. Taconic International, which is involved in chemical coatings for industrial, architectural, electronic and telecommunication products, has two plants in Mullingar, the ADD Plant and the IPD Plant and employs a total of 117 people in Mullingar.
But there is some good news from the services sector. Feidhm na Mara Teoranta is setting a training base for workers on offshore oil and gas rigs. Eleven jobs will be created in the first year, rising to 16 by year three.
As the centre, the first of its kind in Ireland, will be in a Gaeltacht area the venture is being assisted by funding from Údarás na Gaeltachta.
