Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
US-owned Limerick-based computer manufacturer, Dell, has announced the end of computer manufacturing at its Limerick plant, and 1,900 staff are to be made redundant. The computer manufacturer is to offshore its entire European computer manufacturing facilities to a factory in Lodz Poland over the next 12 months in order to reduce costs. Rumours had been circulating for some time that Irish jobs were under threat due to the presence of the Polish plant - which the company deems to have significantly lower labour costs.
The scale of the redundancies announced by Dell, which was Ireland's largest exporter, constitutes a significant blow for a city as small as Limerick. As well as the direct job losses at Dell, jobs in firms that supply the factory are at risk. In addition to suppliers, jobs could also be at risk among a diverse range of local businesses who depend on Dell and its staff for custom. It illustrates the potentially huge ripple effects of such a large redundancy announcement in a big factory drawing its workforce from a small city/rural region.
The redundancy terms are six weeks pay for each year of service. When Dell ceases manufacturing in Ireland it will continue to employ 1,000 staff in Limerick engaged in logistics and product development, and 1,300 at a sales and support site in Dublin.
For further information, see the EIRO report.
The Irish authorities applied for aid from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) which is currently being implemented.
Eurofound (2009), Dell, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Ireland, factsheet number 67786, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/67786.