Intel to shuffle 750 jobs in Ireland

An Intel representative confirmed today that assembly jobs at its plant in Ireland will disappear, but said that workers were being offered redeployment in the fab plant. The representative said he could not give the number of staff affected, but the Irish Times says 750 jobs will go. Intel said: "We've got two plants in Ireland, an assembly operation and a fabrication plant. We've been informing employees in our standard process of adjusting our manufacturing capablities." He said that staff had been told that their jobs will be redeployed, from the assembly line into the fabrucation plant. Currently, the 750 staff are producing packaging for the Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon line, he confirmed. According to the Irish Times, Intel is planning a further $300 million investment in its Leixlip plant, which is near Dublin. That suggests it is considering shifting it to the .18 micron process over the next year or so. ®