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 | | Tuesday, 16 October, 2001, 14:39 GMT 15:39 UK More NI Nortel jobs to go  Nortel has axed more than 800 jobs this year It is understood that another 115 jobs will be lost at telecommunications company Nortel's Northern Ireland operation. So far this year the firm has made more than 800 people redundant at its Monkstown plant in Newtownabbey, reducing the workforce to just over 1,000. The Mayor of Newtownabbey, Vera McWilliam, said she was disappointed to hear the news. "It is just hitting Nothern Ireland now that there is a sort of a slump in the IT market. And when it hits America, it hits here as well," she said. The move is part of a decision by the firm to reduce its global workforce by a further 20,000 announced earlier in the month.
The company said it was continuing to feel downward pressure on its markets in both North America and Europe. A spokesman said the decision to reduce the number of posts in Ireland had been "an extremely difficult one to take". In September, the firm announced that 50 jobs would be lost at the Monkstown plant following a deal with American company SCI systems to supply printed circuit boards. It meant that they would no longer be made in Northern Ireland. The plant makes telecommunications transmission equipment and has been a market leader in the provision of fibre optic equipment. The Newtownabbey operation is Nortel's largest optical systems house in Europe. Earlier this year, the telecommunications company won the Northern Ireland Exporter of the Year award. The company is a subsidiary of the Canadian-owned global hi-tech corporation which operates in 100 countries. | |
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