NEC closure ‘worse than Motorola axe’

Published on Wednesday 19 December 2001 00:00

THE decision to close NEC could be more devastating than the closure of Motorola it was claimed today.

With 800 axed Motorola workers still unable to find jobs the 1200 due will find it even harder to find new work.

And other West Lothian firms could be put out of business because of the knock-on from the latest closure.

A number of companies in the area that supply the semiconductor plant at Livingston face an uncertain future when their contracts end.

It is feared further job losses could follow the 1200 redundancies at NEC announced yesterday as the repercussions hit home.

And coming in the wake of the closure of Motorola’s Bathgate base with 3100 redundancies and today’s announcement that Motorola is to shed 9000 jobs worldwide, there are fears the electronics market could be already saturated with staff.

Willie Dunn, deputy leader of West Lothian Council, said: "The supply chain NEC has within West Lothian is a lot bigger than Motorola had.

"A lot more of their raw materials are produced locally. Motorola imported a lot.

"But there are a lot of firms who supplied NEC with everything from food to some of their machinery.

"It is possible there are other companies that could close. Some of the suppliers are large firms but some are smaller companies and it was a major bit of their work."

Mr Dunn was hoping to obtain a list of all those affected today.

He believes companies who also lost Motorola business may be among the names.

Meanwhile NEC staff are still reeling from the decision, made in Tokyo, to pull out of Livingston just one week before Christmas.

Those inside the plant said many openly wept as their worst fears were confirmed.

A redundancy response team from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian will be installed in the plant from today until operations cease in March next year to help the 1260 workers find new jobs.

A special hotline has also been set up by SE Edinburgh and Lothian to help advise the workforce.

However Mr Dunn said he was concerned that the flood of Motorola employees on to the job market earlier this year may have soaked up vacancies.

More than 2000 of those axed in April have already secured extra work. NEC managers said that suspending operations was the only option available . They added that continuing production next year would have led to a 110 million loss for the Japanese electronics giant by the end of 2002.

But a glimmer of hope was offered when the company said reopening the Livingston plant would be "examined" in the future after "further evaluation of market conditions and customer demand".

That, however, will be of little consolation to those people who today find themselves out of work the week before Christmas.

Gordon Dodds, a father of two from Livingston, is among the thousands of workers still reeling from the company’s decision. Mr Dodds, 33, said: "I am absolutely gutted. The timing of this couldn’t have been any worse. It seems the economic climate has destroyed us. It’s bad news, not just for the workforce here, but for the whole West Lothian economy."

Another worker, who declined to give his name, said he was still "in a state of shock".

He added: " Six hundred redundancies were made in July to streamline our operation and to safeguard other jobs. We were told back then that there wouldn’t be any more job losses for the foreseeable future. I know people who went out and bought a new car, or booked a holiday, as a result."

Mr Hideto Goto, managing director of NEC Livingston, said today that he was "proud" of his staff and their hard work and admitted that even his future was uncertain .

He said: "I am as shocked as everyone else. I had to inform the staff earlier. I know it is not the best time of year, but I felt it was best to let them know the situation as soon as possible."

NEC senior manager Bill Gold said: "Mr Goto fought very hard to keep the plant open. He apologised to workers this morning because he felt he let them all down because he wasn’t able to save their jobs."

NEC set up a "Nextmove" employment advice service in July during the last round of redundancies. Bosses said that the service will now be extended .