More job losses

fricatus

Not again!

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/concerns-over-200-bausch-lomb-job-losses-in-waterford-30314500.html

Can't we get a break? :mad:

500 jobs for Dublin, Athlone and Galway yesterday... would be nice if they'd put some of that effort our way!

PeteF

What a pity, if I'm right they were the best factory of the group in terms of quality.

KevIRL

Grim news indeed. Paycuts of up to 20% for remaining staff and threats to close the plant entirely if savings of 20m not met according to twitter machine

Thoughts go out to all those affected

spankmemunkey

I remember posting on another page about the cost of running factory's in this part of the world compared to India China etc etc its just not sustainable there's no future for factory's and processing plants in Europe any more it just costs too much for companies from outside of Ireland to locate here and run factory's.

This is the last thing Waterford needs and the people of Waterford so sad for all the workers.

How many do they employ?

Thomas D

spankmemunkey wrote: »

I remember posting on another page about the cost of running factory's in this part of the world compared to India China etc etc its just not sustainable there's no future for factory's and processing plants in Europe any more it just costs too much for companies from outside of Ireland to locate here and run factory's.

This is the last thing Waterford needs and the people of Waterford so sad for all the workers.

How many do they employ?

Exactly. It's an open global market.

What does Waterford actually offer the world? We can't throw grants at their way to setup there.

padraig.od

Thomas D wrote: »

Exactly. It's an open global market.

What does Waterford actually offer the world? We can't throw grants at their way to setup there.

Waterford, well Ireland actually offers reliable clean sources of water, which is crucial in the manufacture of contact lenses. There has been major QC issues in their other plants. The staff there have been consistently told they run the most efficient and best quality operation in the entire company so this is quiet a shock to them all.

New owners acting the maggot.

space2ground1

Cue senior politicians arriving, staring sadly at the camera, nodding in solidarity with the poor local TD, offers of training for jobs that don't exist (except in the 4 supported growing cities in Ireland) and a directions to the social welfare office.

DeanAustin

F**k sake. It gets worse.

To be fair, from what I've read, you can see B&L's reasoning behind this decision. They reckon it's cheaper to do this work in New York than Waterford which is a bit scary. And as people outlined above - there are much cheaper labour forces elsewhere.

Still sh!t for the people concerned and my heart goes out to them. We need a f**king break.

Max Powers

space2ground1 wrote: »

Cue senior politicians arriving, staring sadly at the camera, nodding in solidarity with the poor local TD, offers of training for jobs that don't exist (except in the 4 supported growing cities in Ireland) and a directions to the social welfare office.

Well its clear that they (govt) are only going to pay lip service with some small gestures thrown in, thats been their form since election. Bad news, even more of a reason for us all to support our local businesses especially pubs/restaurants and shops in the city centre to help create a vibrant city centre. A lot of good people out there killing themselves to do good work, start new businesses with zero help, support them this weekend and every week.

mozattack

Be nice to see this carry on in the public sector... what about "benchmarking now" for those lazy sods

Sully

Isn't their logic more that it's the most expensive of their operations and the wages are higher than anywhere else? Appears that's what they are looking to do, rather than shutup shop and head out of town for a cheaper operation in India.

To be honest, I can't help but shake the feeling that these type of jobs are not what we need. We need something more sustainable and steady, that wont move around depending on cost factors and so on.

A big blow to the economy here though, no doubt.

shockwave

spankmemunkey wrote: »

I remember posting on another page about the cost of running factory's in this part of the world compared to India China etc etc its just not sustainable there's no future for factory's and processing plants in Europe any more it just costs too much for companies from outside of Ireland to locate here and run factory's.

This is the last thing Waterford needs and the people of Waterford so sad for all the workers.

How many do they employ?

1100 according to the news.

MitchKoobski

From John Halligan's Facebook page around 12pm:

https://www.facebook.com/johnhalliganwaterford/posts/733011930096176

Just had a meeting with Richard Bruton and he admitted to me that he knew several months ago about the impending cuts at Bausch and Lomb. I have no doubt that the information was sat on until the Local Elections were over. He said R and D funding would be coming further down the line but this would not save the 200 jobs. Absolutely devastating blow to the city.

Sully

No government will fund the wage bill or operational costs, so the company would have done this anyway. We need perhaps more grants to get companies here, incentives for small businesses to open up. The rates won't be increased in the next five years at least, but I think we need more than that to get people operating here.

davehedgehog

Im not sure there's a whole lot a government can do in cases like this. If the government wanted to put in measures to reduce the costs they can control we'd be looking at a lower minimum wage, lower electricity costs, (even) lower tax rates they'd be slated for pandering to the big corporations even more than they are doing now.

The company say they can do business cheaper in New York, I find this very hard to believe, especially if they are moving any existing manufacturing from Waterford to New York with the setup costs etc to be taken into account. Maybe i watch too much TV but this looks like a deal done high up the food chain to me...

Also for people who say these companies are better off in India or China, if this was the case they would be there already. People underestimate the costs and other implications of moving manufacturing sites once setup. I think Irelands biggest competition for new Medical Device Manufacturing is with other European countries but our costs are as low if not lower than a lot of these countries at the moment.

davehedgehog

MitchKoobski wrote: »

From John Halligan's Facebook page around 12pm:

I remember a simialr story from a big pharma company in cork a few years back. Dogs on the street knew a company was pulling a large investment but announcement was delayed for weeks. Was officially announced a few days after an election. Im sure that courtsey wasnt given free of charge

wobbles

You'd wonder how much more the people of waterford can take. Job announcements in other large citys job losses here.

Most despicable of all is sitting on the news until after the election is over. The workers deserved to know that their job was in jeopardy and could have planned accordingly

DeanAustin

wobbles wrote: »

You'd wonder how much more the people of waterford can take. Job announcements in other large citys job losses here.

Most despicable of all is sitting on the news until after the election is over. The workers deserved to know that their job was in jeopardy and could have planned accordingly

I see what you're saying but most people would do the same if they were in the government's shoes. I'm not saying that makes it morally right but it's the truth. I'd doubt the employees will be any worse off than if this was announced a couple of weeks ago.

spankmemunkey

padraig.od wrote: »

Waterford, well Ireland actually offers reliable clean sources of water, which is crucial in the manufacture of contact lenses. There has been major QC issues in their other plants. The staff there have been consistently told they run the most efficient and best quality operation in the entire company so this is quiet a shock to them all.

New owners acting the maggot.

This is a bit of an undersell really CLEAN WATER? is that it? it would be still cheaper for them to use filtration systems its not turning water into wine is it?

India already produce a huge amount of the worlds medical devices so next time you have to go to hospital chances are if your being cut open your being cut open by a knife produced in India Pakistan etc etc. again as i said before google BBC Panorama and medical devices and you will be shocked by the amount of outsourcing in India where your medical instruments are being made one guy was sharpening them on the side of the road.

Honestly dont presume things are all done to the finest standards its all about the money and the bottom line. The whole face of shopping and world of retail and production are changing rapidly and will never be the same again. Foreign companies with production plants in Ireland will be a thing of the past in years to come its far too expensive.

spankmemunkey

RTE has reported that 200 are gone and that possibly another 900 more will go!
http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0529/620365-waterford-jobs/

JPA

spankmemunkey wrote: »

RTE has reported that 200 are gone and that possibly another 900 more will go!
http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0529/620365-waterford-jobs/

Cut costs or close as the original article says, just laid out more starkly by Rte

padraig.od

spankmemunkey wrote: »

This is a bit of an undersell really CLEAN WATER? is that it? it would be still cheaper for them to use filtration systems its not turning water into wine is it?

India already produce a huge amount of the worlds medical devices so next time you have to go to hospital chances are if your being cut open your being cut open by a knife produced in India Pakistan etc etc. again as i said before google BBC Panorama and medical devices and you will be shocked by the amount of outsourcing in India where your medical instruments are being made one guy was sharpening them on the side of the road.

Honestly dont presume things are all done to the finest standards its all about the money and the bottom line. The whole face of shopping and world of retail and production are changing rapidly and will never be the same again. Foreign companies with production plants in Ireland will be a thing of the past in years to come its far too expensive.

Yes, a clean reliable source of water. Production is not possible without it. Production in their Brazilian plant shut down last year as the water wasn't clean enough, filtration system or not.

KOTSC

I remember the election leaflet I got in the mail last week for the fine gael EU candidates promising jobs/stability/growth- a week after the euro electios we hear about this situation in bausch and lomb-so to anyone who voted for the fine gael euro candidates based on the leaflet promises about jobs and growth- hows the jobs and growth working out for you one week later post elections ?

CatFromHue

I'm just wondering what can/could the govt do to stop this?

Finnbar01

davehedgehog wrote: »

Im not sure there's a whole lot a government can do in cases like this. If the government wanted to put in measures to reduce the costs they can control we'd be looking at a lower minimum wage, lower electricity costs, (even) lower tax rates they'd be slated for pandering to the big corporations even more than they are doing now.

The company say they can do business cheaper in New York, I find this very hard to believe, especially if they are moving any existing manufacturing from Waterford to New York with the setup costs etc to be taken into account. Maybe i watch too much TV but this looks like a deal done high up the food chain to me...

Also for people who say these companies are better off in India or China, if this was the case they would be there already. People underestimate the costs and other implications of moving manufacturing sites once setup. I think Irelands biggest competition for new Medical Device Manufacturing is with other European countries but our costs are as low if not lower than a lot of these countries at the moment.

Are they though?

padraig.od

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm just wondering what can/could the govt do to stop this?

Well they are the majority shareholder in the ESB. Anything that could be done to push down electricity prices would help. Staff salaries are in part a function of tax burden on individual workers, so lowering personal taxation would help. Employer PRSI is in the governments control...

Those are just general measures that would help the entire economy. I doubt there is anything that can be done for B&L in particular.

O Riain

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm just wondering what can/could the govt do to stop this?

Nothing. Job losses in this day and age are happening all too regularly.

The issue here is that we are creating ZERO jobs and this is where the Government could be helping us but quiet simply are not.
2 years in power and all the government has given us is planning permission for an advanced technology plant, but the other cities have gotten the same planning permission

We are so behind the other cities it is ridiculous and nothing is being done to bring us up to scratch.

The people of Waterford have been too quiet for too long. We need to act guys. Start marching, making loads of noise, getting in the right peoples faces because it is not just sad at this stage it is absolutely ridiculous.

As for the holding off the announcement until after the elections, well that's just disgraceful. Oh and it's once again good to see the Fine Gael boys unable to criticise their own party even when their party is absolutely screwing the city.

I don't understand you guys to be totally honest, this is the place you grew up in, you're friends and family live here this is the place that made you. It is obvious you're party doesn't give two sh*ts about the Déise yet you toe the line. Shame on you.

cookie.monster

i bet ciara conway came outta the wood work to get in front of the camera all smiles like she did at talk talk

fiachr_a

Anyone thinks austerity is almost over is wrong, it hasn't started yet! It will get a lot worse in Waterford in the next few years. Most of those people elected last week either made false promises or just don't understand the economy. Those newly elected MEPs can't remove the EU Council's clause that ties Ireland to austerity for future years. In 2008, Ireland's debt was about 25% GDP, this year it's over 123%. Irish banks that remained are now stronger due to less competition here. There has been no business structural reforms made here in recent years. The only way forward for Waterford is to hope the Brits keep voting UKIP and indirectly send multinationals to Ireland!

Cabaal

Guys can you please keep the general political stuff out of this thread please and keep it on topic, if you want to rant about politics in general or talk about UKIP then please go to the political forum.

Thanks

spankmemunkey

Is there no talk about the pay scales they were on out there? everybody knows that they paid very well for at the end of the day is a factory, people were getting taken on and trained up. I know theres people with Degrees etc etc but the general work base were getting too much money and thats the problem at the end of the day the cost base is too high here. again i feel sorry for the staff and everybody out there cos this WILL impact everybody who lives in Waterford one way or another but i wouldnt be feeling safe in any factory that was a foreign company paying good wages for jobs that are unskilled work.