NEC joins jobs exodus with 100 redundancies
* Ben Schneiders
* March 26, 2009
VICTORIA'S skills base has suffered another serious blow with leading technology company NEC to lay off about 100 highly skilled research and development positions from its Mulgrave headquarters.
The redundancies are part of 153 jobs that are to be shed across Australia and come just months after NEC separately announced the loss of 200 jobs. In all, NEC — which is cutting 20,000 positions worldwide — is to reduce its local workforce by nearly a third.
NEC spokesman Will Clarke said the company was suffering from the downturn and would send most of its local mobile telephone research and development work back to Japan. Broadband research and development would remain here.
Mr Clarke said the redundancy program would initially be voluntary.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national industrial officer Darren Hanisch said he was "very disappointed" that another company has had to lay off staff due to the financial crisis but said NEC had been transparent with the union in its negotiations.
"Compared to other companies in Australia, this company is doing it pretty hard," he said.
Mr Hanisch said a number of other firms the union dealt with did not consult and did not say why they were axing staff. "Ultimately it creates a level of anxiety within the workforce," he said.
Mr Hanisch said he was hopeful there was a "light at the end of the tunnel" for NEC in Australia.
Opposition manufacturing spokesman Peter Ryan said the announcement was another serious blow to the sector.
"Of enormous significance is the fact that these employees are dedicated to research and development, as we understand it," he said. "They therefore take with them a lot of intellectual property as they go out the door."
In recent weeks, Bosch, Unidrive, Telstra, Pacific Brands and Macquarie Group have all confirmed job cuts while ANZ will also reduce its Victorian workforce by 100 by not replacing staff.
There are fears that hundreds of apprentices will also be laid off in Victoria in the coming weeks.
In 2007, then state minister for industry and trade Theo Theophanous talked up the Government's support for NEC, "in particular the advanced research and development being carried out by their facility in Mulgrave".
Mr Theophanous described NEC as Victoria's largest commercial information communication technology research and development centre.
Matt Nurse, a spokesman for Industry and Trade Minister Martin Pakula, said that the "Government values every single job in this state" and "we will be discussing this matter with our federal colleagues so we can offer assistance to these workers".
* Ben Schneiders
* March 26, 2009
VICTORIA'S skills base has suffered another serious blow with leading technology company NEC to lay off about 100 highly skilled research and development positions from its Mulgrave headquarters.
The redundancies are part of 153 jobs that are to be shed across Australia and come just months after NEC separately announced the loss of 200 jobs. In all, NEC — which is cutting 20,000 positions worldwide — is to reduce its local workforce by nearly a third.
NEC spokesman Will Clarke said the company was suffering from the downturn and would send most of its local mobile telephone research and development work back to Japan. Broadband research and development would remain here.
Mr Clarke said the redundancy program would initially be voluntary.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national industrial officer Darren Hanisch said he was "very disappointed" that another company has had to lay off staff due to the financial crisis but said NEC had been transparent with the union in its negotiations.
"Compared to other companies in Australia, this company is doing it pretty hard," he said.
Mr Hanisch said a number of other firms the union dealt with did not consult and did not say why they were axing staff. "Ultimately it creates a level of anxiety within the workforce," he said.
Mr Hanisch said he was hopeful there was a "light at the end of the tunnel" for NEC in Australia.
Opposition manufacturing spokesman Peter Ryan said the announcement was another serious blow to the sector.
"Of enormous significance is the fact that these employees are dedicated to research and development, as we understand it," he said. "They therefore take with them a lot of intellectual property as they go out the door."
In recent weeks, Bosch, Unidrive, Telstra, Pacific Brands and Macquarie Group have all confirmed job cuts while ANZ will also reduce its Victorian workforce by 100 by not replacing staff.
There are fears that hundreds of apprentices will also be laid off in Victoria in the coming weeks.
In 2007, then state minister for industry and trade Theo Theophanous talked up the Government's support for NEC, "in particular the advanced research and development being carried out by their facility in Mulgrave".
Mr Theophanous described NEC as Victoria's largest commercial information communication technology research and development centre.
Matt Nurse, a spokesman for Industry and Trade Minister Martin Pakula, said that the "Government values every single job in this state" and "we will be discussing this matter with our federal colleagues so we can offer assistance to these workers".
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