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Shock As Abbott's Sligo Plant To Shed 180 Jobs

Workers at the Ballytivnan plant of Abbott Ireland were shocked to learn this afternoon that 180 of their 300 jobs are to be lost.

The healthcare company, today announced just after 2pm that it is to streamline its global nutrition business to enable greater focus on its core business of providing science-based nutrition. 

As part of this streamlining, Abbott will exit the US nutritional device market.  Consequently, the company has confirmed to SligoToday.ie this afternoon that it is now seeking 180 redundancies at its plant in Ballytivnan, Sligo, which manufactures nutritional devices for Abbott’s Enteral nutrition business. 

Abbott Nutrition Ballytivnan is now entering into a 30-day consultation period with employees on the proposed redundancies. The redundancies will take place over the next 12 months and it is hoped that these can be achieved through a voluntary redundancy programme.  Abbott will be offering favourable redundancy terms and outplacement services will be put in place to support impacted employees. The immediate priority is to work with and support employees during the consultation process.

The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr Veronica Cawley has expressed her extreme disappointment at the devastating news.

"The Ballytivnan plant was established in the early 70s and Abbott have over the years become the major employer in the region," Cllr Cawley told SligoToday.ie "I hope there will be no more losses from the remaining 130 positions at that particular plant.

"Abbott have been a model employer in Sligo and I know this decision has not been an easy one for them to make and following on from the good news on Monday that Stiefel who were expected to lose 120 jobs saw them made secure by a €10m investment by GlaxoSmyth makes it particularly heartbreaking for the families involved."

Abbott has stated that it regrets the impact of today’s announcement on the affected employees and the local community; however, the company stressed that today’s actions are based on Abbott Nutrition’s long-term strategic needs.  The streamlining of the business will result in greater efficiencies and position the company for long-term accelerated and sustainable growth.

The Ballytivnan plant lost 40 jobs in 2009. See SligoToday.ie 13/11/09

Fine Gael TD for Sligo/North Leitrim, Tony McLoughlin, has said that his thoughts are with the staff of Abbot Pharmaceutical, some of whom are facing redundancy in the coming year.

“My thoughts are with the employees at Abbot, some of whom face redundancy in the coming year.

“It’s disappointing to get this news in the week in which we had such good news regarding the Stiefel employees. I hope to discuss the issue with Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, in the coming days in order to look at how his Department and the IDA can help to bring investment to Sligo in order to help replace these jobs.

“The Government has prioritised attracting investment from pharmaceutical companies. I would hope that with their skill set and experience, the Abbot employees would prove attractive to potential investors,“ concluded Deputy McLoughlin.

As part of the streamlining global programme announced today, the site will continue to manufacture nutritional device sets for all international markets (ex-US) and more than 130 employees will continue to be employed at the site.

Abbott Nutrition’s business and innovation pipeline remain vibrant and strong.  The company continues to invest in R&D, increase manufacturing capacity and quality and strengthen investments in emerging markets. 

Abbott says it remains committed to Ireland and currently employs approximately 4,000 people across 13 sites in eight counties.


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