Seagate to close Northern Ireland plant

Seagate is closing one of two manufacturing plants in Northern Ireland, axing 768 permanent and 159 temporary employees. The 10-year-old plant at Limavady in County Londonderry manufactures nickel plated aluminum substrates — the base platter on which magnetic materials are deposited for making hard drives. "We have made …

[druck]

10 years?

I don't suppose that coincides with the end of subsidies and tax breaks used to encourage the plant to set up there in the first place?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm...

So... The world's already got too many substrate manufacturing plants, so we can't keep this one open... But we're opening a new plant in Malaysia with roughly the same number of new jobs in it?

Wouldn't it have been more honest simply to say "Malaysia's cheaper. Sorry."

So. Next hard disk upgrade isn't going to be Seagate, then. Just, you know, 'cos.

[Michael]

gone to china?

Globalisation at work, ship everything to china and india then moan when they find kids working for free in sweatshops.

[Anonymous Coward]

What they didn't say......

......is that the staff have been training their Malaysian replacements and once the plant is closed, the equipment will be removed and shipped off to the new Malaysian one.

[David Dunwoody]

Very Strange Indeed....

I live just down the road from this plant, and have many relatives and friends working there.

Seagate got the plant for nothing, and have received lots of grants in addition, Since then, more public investment has gone into specialist drainage systems, and access roads in and around the plant.

They state that they will save £15m per annum by moving to Malaysia, which to my mind is very small beer compared to there global revenue. In a rural area of unemployment such as here, this will mean a lot of people on the dole for a long time, costing probably much in excess of the abovementioned £15m pa.

So we, the tax payers, again pick up the tab, one way or another, for the fat cats!

Disgusted.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit!

And I just bought 2 Maxtor 500 giggers! As a 4th generation American with roots in Ireland, I feel for my brethren.

Have a pint on me chaps, no more Seagates/Maxtors in my future.