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S3 cuts 80 jobs and shuts Galway centre
Wednesday, October 02 2002
by Matthew Clark


Irish company Silicon & Software Systems (S3) has revealed that it will cut
around 80 jobs in its European operations and shut a design facility in Galway. 

The IDA-backed electronics design business, which is 90 percent owned by Philips,
said the Galway location is to shut in 2003. Around 50 jobs will be lost in
Ireland as a result of the moves, and around 30 will go in the firm's Czech
Republic and Polish facilities. 





After the job cuts are complete, the company will have around 300 workers
worldwide. However, the closure of the Galway centre will result in increased
employed in Dublin and Cork, as many workers will be offered the option to
relocate to other S3 centres in these cities, the business said.





The restructuring will also see the company quit some design areas. Currently the
business specialises in system-level design and integration in three market areas
-- digital consumer, wireless systems and communications infrastructure. The
company's digital consumer area, which focuses primarily on digital set-top boxes
for which S3 has a strong reputation, and its wireless systems (3G and Wi-Fi)
will continue to operate. However, certain segments of its communications
infrastructure business will be phased out, the company admitted. But it added
that it would continue to operate the Network Processing division of this unit,
building upon what it described as its strong position in sector.





A spokesperson for the business told ElectricNews.Net that the streamlining of
its business areas was the result of increased customer demand for digital
set-top design solutions and designs for 3G and Wi-Fi solutions. 





The company, which has been profitable in previous years and was established in
1986, announced a major expansion in its Cork facility just 15 months ago that
was to create 100 more jobs. The EUR2.5 million expansion was in fact the last
major growth spurt by the business, which just two years ago was thought to be a
serious IPO candidate. The company spokesperson could not comment on whether the
firm would be profitable this year.



In 2000, Silicon & Software Systems embarked on a EUR20 million expansion of its
Leopardstown, Dublin headquarters, and in the three years to 2001 the business
had almost doubled its annual revenues.