Medtronic closing down?

Amazotheamazing

Just to follow on from some posts on this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054967253&page=30

is there any truth in this rumour? I knows loads of people who work in Medtronic (including my g/f) who are looking for new jobs but I assumed it was just to try out a new place, not becuase Medtronic was closing. Anyone hear anything?

the_galway_fry

its going to happen sooner rather than later
manufacturing in ireland is no longer a viable option for many companies
the far east is where its at.

DonalN

Jasus - and there was me thinking of heading home West and applying for a job there!!....Oh well..

Any other suggestions??..in the manufacturing side of things ???

kippy

How the hell can you post a follow on thread from a discussion on the housing situation to speculate that just because some people are looking for jobs outside of Medtronic that the place is going to close?
Complete speculation and conjecture on your part with no relevant proof or backing evidence.

1. People move jobs all the time, people get tired of jobs, and in a lot of instances in these large manufacturing plants jobs are on short term contract only and the can be very boring. Some people like to move on, and there is in general a pretty high turnover of staff.
Just because some people are looking for jobs elsewhere does not mean that the place is about to shut and speculating on such matters without any proof is pretty daft.

SimpleSam06

kippy wrote:

Just because some people are looking for jobs elsewhere does not mean that the place is about to shut and speculating on such matters without any proof is pretty daft.

Absoloutely true, but the other posters have a point. One place I know for a fact is closing (in three weeks from today) is Lionbridge, out in Ballybane. Maybe not the largest company, but it was a significant contributor to educational courses (GMIT tech support) and the general well being of the city. They are moving their operations to India.

Medtronic, I have no idea, I heard that from another poster in the property thread that "heard" it. Maybe I shouldn't have put it up there without substantial evidence; however I can tell you that there is going to be another large closure in Galway thats going to wreak havoc. I can't tell you which one because I'll get people in trouble, unfortunately. So thats two decent sized employers I know about, and there are probably a few more I don't.

The dependancy of Galway and Ireland in general on foreign multinationals is coming back to bite us in the ass, now that their tax advantages are drying up. Still, I wouldn't worry, since the immense tax boost from the property boom has been extensively invested in infrastructure, communications, and local industry, as well as encouraging home grown enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Oh wait no, they blew that on hiring more paper pushers for the civil service, and increasing the pay for the rest of the civil service at three times the rate of private sector jobs, in order to consolidate the politcal aspirations of petty empire builders within the government. Okay, you can panic now.

kippy

I agree totally with your comments on the overreliance that Galway has on three or four multinationals which would employ around 8,000 people between them, were any one of them to go the area would be in serious trouble, especially since the chances of attracting another large employer to the area would be slim (when was the last time the creation of more that a 100 jobs was announced in Galway?) The same overreliance issues are apparent in Limerick, Dublin is not so bad but still there are a number of massive manufacturing companies that could pull out like that.

Decent jobs (outside of the hospitality sector) are hard enough to come by in Galway at the best of times. Were one of the bigger companies to pull out the knock on effect would be enormous-both to property prices, rental markets, related jobs etc.
I disagree with you in ragards some of the comments on infrastructure, significant amounts of money have been invested in infrastructure in the past few years and a lot of new businesses have started, however I know that a lot of these businesses are supporting the construction industry in general and in the Galway area the newer irish owned businesses are supporting the medical devices bigger companies in the area. As you can see if either of these two industries take a dive, the irish companies could also be following suit.
However, I still dont agree with the way you came about to the realisation that medtronic was closing.

SimpleSam06

kippy wrote:

However, I still dont agree with the way you came about to the realisation that medtronic was closing.

Well I really didn't, I merely used information I got from another poster to illustrate a point I was trying to make. I have no idea if its closing or not. I did say to take that information with a pinch of salt, however.

A lot of that new infrastructure wasn't built from tax money, it was created with the aid of EU handouts. And if you think they are going to bail us out this time, you have another think coming. Its the EU thats kicking the property market in the jools with rapid interest rate rises from the ECB. Here we are, one of the richest countries in the world apparently, and we are still not a net contributor to the EU. Brussels takes a dim view of that sort of thing.

Anything built on the construction industry is doomed, in my opinion, and anyone supporting the multinationals as a main income source won't be far behind them.

kippy

Well I really didn't, I merely used information I got from another poster to illustrate a point I was trying to make. I have no idea if its closing or not. I did say to take that information with a pinch of salt, however.

Apologies, I got mixed up there, I meant that comment towards the original poster.
I do agree with a lot that you have to say Sam.
Kippy

SimpleSam06

Not a bother. It actually gets better when you consider how they are going to sustain that massive, overpaid, bloated beaurocracy after the property tax receipts vanish. I mean its not like they can lay them off without having the entire country grind to a halt. Just some food for thought there.

Amazotheamazing

Kippy, I asked if anyone had heard it was closing down, not that I believed it was closing down. I'm sure you can see the difference between the 2 concepts.

sgthighway

These Major medical Device Manufacturers are in direct competition with each other:
Johnson & Johnson
Boston Scientific
Abbot Vascular
Guidant Corporation
Medtronic

J&J are currently the best. then came Boston, Guidant, Medtronic and Abbot in that order. Boston Scientific bought Guidant (they have a plant in Clonmel). Boston needed the help of Abbot to make the deal. This aquisition has strenghtened Boston Scientific and Abbot leaving Medtronic way behind the field. They had a good year but its a cut throat business. Abbot are looking for more space. So are Boston. What are Medtronic doing?

P.S. - there was a rumour that J&J were going to come to Galway

DonalN

must send a CV to J&J then!!!!

fish fingers

j and j are ment to be building big factory in oranmore. up the road from quality hotel. beside scrap yard. right in front of my house:mad: :mad:

sgthighway

fish fingers wrote:

j and j are ment to be building big factory in oranmore. up the road from quality hotel. beside scrap yard. right in front of my house:mad: :mad:

I think its part of the new road they will be building through there. (going on your description) They are going to build a new IDA Estate between Oranmore and Athenry.

Amazotheamazing

Bad news for your family I guess but great news for Galway.

left_behind

Ive been working in medtronic for 3 years. What i can tell you is that they have hired 300 people in the last4 months. Im constantly working overtime including Saturdays. Some of our products are going to Mexico with new products being developed and manufactured in galway. that doesnt sound like a company thats closing. it will happen eventually but not for some time

paulh19

SimpleSam06 wrote:

One place I know for a fact is closing (in three weeks from today) is Lionbridge, out in Ballybane. .... They are moving their operations to India.

In fairness, that one has been announced already. And more to the point, this company was "mandated" by a customer to transfer the jobs to India, presumably to save that customer money.

SimpleSam06 wrote:

.. however I can tell you that there is going to be another large closure in Galway thats going to wreak havoc. I can't tell you which one because I'll get people in trouble, unfortunately.

Appreciate you can't tell which company. Any idea on when it might happen though?

Thanks - Paul.

the_galway_fry

caradyne in aprkmore are another medical plant closing in october

SimpleSam06

paulh19 wrote:

In fairness, that one has been announced already. And more to the point, this company was "mandated" by a customer to transfer the jobs to India, presumably to save that customer money.

Eh the management in the states are actually mostly Indian, was what I heard, along with a great many horror stories about existing Indian support. I doubt its much comfort to those being made redundant but I don't think Lionbridge will be around for long.

paulh19 wrote:

Appreciate you can't tell which company. Any idea on when it might happen though?

Nope.

sgthighway

Yesterday's news today;
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/09/12/story276457.html

galwayrush

i have 2 sisters working in the plant, and they say that it is actually expanding at the moment,

Fenster

I twice turned down a job at Medtronic in favour of moving to the US, no regrets so far. Hopefully they'll stay open for a long time to come. O.o

elpresdentde

medtronic was slow a couple of months ago their new product wasn't hitting sales. but then they won a court case and things seem to speed up again

cp251

Boston Scientific are not closing but they are cutting back production of their new gadget. Problems with the FDA. They have dumped most of the temporary contractors hired this last year and may get rid of the rest. Overtime is almost non existent for most people. Which is disastrous when you realise that a product builder maxes out at 450 Euro or so whether they are there ten years or one.

I found them crap to work for and the money really is lousy. Plus I found their corporate Bravo Sierra the worst I came across. But maybe I'm not 'True to myself and Boston Scientific':(

Tar.Aldarion

I know medtronic are looking for poeple from nuig on placement. Doubt that means much but that doesn't sound like something a closing company would do, meh.

SimpleSam06

cp251 wrote:

Which is disastrous when you realise that a product builder maxes out at 450 Euro or so whether they are there ten years or one.

Well in fairness where else are you going to get better pay for what is basically unskilled labour?

sgthighway

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I know medtronic are looking for poeple from nuig on placement. Doubt that means much but that doesn't sound like something a closing company would do, meh.

All Multinationals take on these Co-Ops. They get little pay but good experience. The interviews are only taking place now for these positions.

Tar.Aldarion

Yeah, I am doing interviews now, pay seems good to me for the places so far.