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The company's Blanchardstown operation focuses on the manufacturing of 3Com connectivity equipment, including network stacks and hubs, and on sales and distribution. 3Com also carries out substantial research & development work at the facility, which employs some 1,080 full-time workers.
A spokesman said the company is hoping to achieve the cuts through voluntary redundancies, although this might not be possible. The cuts are to come primarily from manufacturing, with some cuts also in administration.
The cuts are not unexpected and were first discussed in December, said Bruce Claflin, the company's president and CEO. "In light of the US economic downturn and turmoil in the telecommunications industry, I announced in December a global cost reduction initiative," he said. He said 3Com hopes to focus now on work that is "critical to market leadership and superior financial returns."
As well as reducing employment, 3Com plans to cut discretionary costs and product costs, and aims to make savings in plant/property and equipment.
3Com first came to Ireland in 1991 and its initial aim was to employ 175. Last autumn Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced that 3Com aimed to increase its employment at Blanchardstown to 1,100 this year, but it is thought that this goal is unlikely to be met now in the light of the cuts. 3Com has received some IEP11.9 million in grant aid from the Irish government.
The spokesman said 3Com was continuing to recruit in some divisions, including R&D.
The cuts are a further sign that the US economic recession is becoming a reality. While PC makers like Gateway, which operate on extremely tight margins, were the first to announce significant cuts, the downturn is also affecting infrastructure giants like 3Com and Nortel.
Nortel said last week that it would cut 40 jobs in Galway as part of company-wide cutbacks that will see the firm shedding 10,000 jobs. Nortel said it was forced to make the cuts since the downturn in the US was hitting more quickly and more severely than expected.
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