Shock as healthcare giant cuts 250 jobs
Thursday November 12 2009
FEARS for the future of thousands of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry grew yesterday as 250 jobs were axed by the world's second largest pharmaceutical company.
Shocked workers at Stiefel Laboratories (Ireland) Ltd were told yesterday morning that the company, which has been manufacturing skincare products at its Sligo base since 1975, was to shut down.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which acquired the company last July, told staff it would cease operations at the Finisklin plant by the end of 2013 as part of an overall review of its business.
The announcement dealt a blow to the already turbulent pharmaceutical industry, which employs an estimated 26,000 people in Ireland.
Earlier this month it emerged that US giant Johnson & Johnson, the largest shareholder in Elan, plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs internationally.
Job losses are also on the cards for Pfizer, which intends to shed 19,000 of its worldwide workforce.
Pfizer recently took over Wyeth, which employs more than 5,000 people in Sligo, Cork, Dublin, Kildare and Limerick. Pfizer
Raising the matter in the Dail last night, Local Fine Gael TD John Perry accused Enterprise Minister and Tanaiste Mary Coughlan of "doing nothing at a local or national level to sustain Ireland's manufacturing sector".
"Sligo's live register has shot up by 60 per cent with an extra 1,845 people now signing on in the last 12 months, bringing the total to 4,965," he said.
Earlier, Mr Perry warned that the Sligo job losses were the "thin end of the wedge.
"What I want to know is what was done by the Government and the IDA to discourage GSK from shutting this operation," he said.
But IDA north-west regional manager Joe McHugh insisted that the pharmaceutical/life science sector continued to be strong in Ireland.
"There is nothing significant or new about companies going through acquisitions and that is what is happening," he said.
"This always involves rationalisation and sometimes it is to our advantage. Unfortunately, this time it isn't, but GSK remains committed to Ireland."
Addressing workers in Sligo, Stiefel Laboratories managing director Joe Burns said the decision was to do with "under-utilised capacity" elsewhere and was not reflective of the quality of their work.
Workers, some of whom have been there almost 35 years, will learn more when they meet with management again today.
Disappointment
Reacting to the announcement, Ms Coughlan expressed her disappointment but noted the long "run-down" proposed by GSK.
She said she would immediately engage with the IDA and other state agencies on behalf of the workers to find alternative employment.
Fianna Fail TD Dr Jimmy Devins, who compared the impact of the Stiefel job losses on Sligo to the blow to the mid-west caused by the Dell closure, has sought an urgent meeting with the Tanaiste.
"This is devastating news for Sligo," he said.
- Anita Guidera
Irish Independent
