Global tech firm Intel have offered manufacturing staff at their Kildare plant voluntary "short-term layoffs" as the company cuts costs.
It is unclear how many of the 4,500 staff at the Leixlip plant will have to take up the unpaid leave which is said to last three months. The computer chip producing tech giant has seen a slowdown in demand for their products.
Kildare TD James Lawless said the "short-term layoffs", as he described them, were down to global factors and played down any loss in confidence in the Leixlip plant. Previously, a top economist warned the "tech dream" could be over as interest rates rise after Twitter, Stripe and Meta announced major job losses.
Read more: Top economist makes grim prediction about Dublin's tech 'dream'
PC sales dropped 15% in the third quarter of this year with Intel's suppliers HP, Dell and Lenovo taking hits to demand.
In a statement to staff on Thursday, Intel said the "short-term layoffs" will allow the company to cut costs. It read: “During our recent earnings call, we announced significant steps to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, while mindfully protecting the investments needed to accelerate our transformation and position us for long-term growth.
“Retaining our manufacturing talent is a key element of positioning Intel for long-term growth. Voluntary time off programs allow us an opportunity to reduce short term costs and offer employees attractive time off options. Manufacturing talent represents an important element of our business here in Ireland,"
Deputy Lawless told RTE's Morning Ireland: "There was an announcement globally about two months back that there will be a tightening. I think it should be seen in the context of it not being a reflection of the confidence or commitment to the Leixlip plant but rather a knock on from a global reaction."
Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar said earlier this month that the Government were not expecting "significant" job losses at Intel. He said: “We had good engagement with Intel as well in the last couple of days and while we’ve no absolute guarantees from Intel, we’re not expecting significant types of job losses from that company."
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