| Amid anger and tears, staff were told at a mass meeting that what was once a city industrial giant will, by the summer, be reduced to a skeleton operation of around 100.
Swingeing cuts had been expected in light of increasing competition for work from the company’s factory in Hungary, where costs are lower.
But employees streaming out the gates of the factory after today’s announcement said they were stunned at the extent of the redundancies, announced via video-link from America.
Said one, “We knew it was going to be bad, but 650 jobs is a shock. People are very upset, very angry. What do we do now?”
NCR Corporation said in a statement it plans to shift the focus of its automatic teller machine manufacturing in Dundee to “new product introduction and production of low volume, high complexity products.”
The company cited a changing market environment and competitive pressures for the decision to cease high-volume manufacture of ATM products in the city.
Management said they anticipated that current manufacturing-related positions in Dundee will be reduced by approximately by 650 by mid 2007 — a proposal subject to consultation with unions.
Controversially, given recent assurances to the contrary, the company confirmed the work will be shifted to the plant at Budapest, as well as Beijing and India.
Under the proposals, approximately 100 manufacturing positions will remain in Dundee, as will around 600 positions in ATM engineering and advanced development, services support operations, product management and marketing.
“This is a very difficult, but necessary, proposal in response to changing market conditions,” said Allan Valentine, director of manufacturing operations for NCR’s financial solutions in Dundee.
“Our competition is also moving its manufacturing operations to lower cost areas.
“Despite our efforts to take cost out of our operations, it costs us more money to build ATMs on a unit to unit basis in Dundee than in any of our other manufacturing plants.
“We cannot continue with our current strategy.
“The proposed realignment of our manufacturing operations will help create a level playing field that will enable us to become more competitive by lowering costs and freeing up resources to invest in new product innovation.
“These proposals do not signal an end to our investment in Dundee.
“Our plans involve retaining operations in Dundee, which will play a key role in helping us to meet the needs of a changing financial self-service market.
“We do understand these proposed changes in our manufacturing operations will bring a challenging time for affected employees, and we will be outlining a comprehensive employee support programme to NCR employee representatives.”
NCR aims to begin immediate consultation on its plans with the employee representatives.
He added, “NCR will also offer to discuss its plans with community representatives, including local members of parliament, members of Scottish parliament, local authority representatives and Scottish Enterprise representatives.”
The announcement caps a dire period for the city’s economy, following redundancies at Tesco and Michelin in recent months, and an announcement yesterday by the Wood Group that 50 jobs are to go.. |
