Xerox job losses on the cards after all

We'll save your jobs..oh no we won't

Xerox employees who were due to move to IBM after the firm outsourced their jobs have been dealt a blow, with news that IBM plans to make them redundant.

The outsourcing was part of a review of Xerox's operations that had been carried out by the document firm in a bid to control costs. Under the original plan, Xerox was to outsource the jobs to IBM, without a single staff member losing their job or even being forced to move premises.

However, according to reports on Wednesday, the 900 jobs are now on the line with IBM planning to outsource the positions to a cheaper central European economy. Workers will be made redundant over the next two years, with IBM carrying out the cuts in two stages, each resulting in 450 job losses.

The IDA has already got involved, according to reports, and is trying to save some of the positions.

The reports come after the two firms issued a joint statement on Tuesday, which said they believed that "changes will be effected through, for example, attrition, redeployment, and, if necessary, redundancy". This was despite initial statements that said no jobs would be lost in the outsourcing move.

The affected jobs are all at Xerox's Ballycoolin facility in West Dublin, where it employs over 1,200 people. A further 350 are employed at a Dundalk based plant, with a further 100 staff based throughout Ireland. These employees will not be impacted by the review.

© 2007 ENN