Corel to axe up to 139 jobs in Dublin

Corel announced today it plans to shut down its Dublin, Ireland engineering operation as part of its ongoing attempt to shave $40 million off its operating expenses bill.

Some 139 jobs will be affected by the move, which will see the engineering team consolidated with Corel's Canadian operation in Ottawa. Some of the 139 staff will be offered the option of relocating to Canada, though Corel did not say how may are to be offered such postings.

Corel's Dublin site will not close completely - the facility will remain operational to oversee international product manufacturing, marketing and support.

The $40 million cost-savings scheme was put in place earlier this year to stem Corel's losses, driven by shrinking sales. For the company's second completed quarter of the current fiscal year, its loss hit $23.6 million on sales down 48 per cent to $36.6 million.

No part of Corel is safe from the cuts, the company said. $18 million will be cut from salaries and contracts with external suppliers; $12 million will be lopped off the company's advertising and marketing budget; cost of sales will cost $5 million less; and $5 million less will be spent on admin.

Back in June, Corel cut 320 jobs to save $11 million. And former CEO Michael Cowpland elected to pass on his $200,000 salary. Cowpland quit the company two weeks ago.

His interim replacement, Derek Burney, said of the Dublin closure: "The decision to consolidate our engineering operations in Canada was by no means an easy one, but it's a necessary step to streamline our costs and development efforts and part of a broader strategy to support the company's long-term growth.

"We appreciate the invaluable contributions our Dublin-based employees have made to Corel over the years and we intend to assist them, as much as possible, in finding alternative employment in Dublin's booming high-tech sector or at Corel's Ottawa headquarters." ®

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