Worldwide restructuring by Boston Scientific Corp (BSX), which currently employs over 1,700 staff in Galway and Cork and has plans for a total of 3,500, will have no negative consequences for its Irish operations, Mr Bernard Collins, vice president, international operations, said yesterday.
In fact, he said, the restructuring of the multinational following a number of acquisitions over the past two to three years, has resulted in an unquantified number of new jobs for Ireland.
Last week in the US, BSX said it would cut 2,000 jobs, or 18 per cent of its work force, over the next year as the company integrates Schneider Worldwide.
The company said the changes will cost about $62 million (£44.28 million), mostly in severance and related expenses.
BSX paid $2.1 billion for Schneider, a former Pfizer Inc. unit that makes devices used to unclog arteries. The acquisition was announced in June 1998.
About $36 million of the costs were included in the company's books in the purchase price of Schneider. The remaining $26 million will be taken as a charge in the fourth quarter. Earnings for BSX are due out later this month.
It is not clear whether a total of 2,000 people would lose their jobs, or if some of the positions to be eliminated are already empty. The company currently has 11,000 employees.
Mr Collins said the company believed it was appropriate to make last week's announcement considering the charge being taken on the fourth quarter on the company's books. However, a lot of the rationalisation has already been implemented or is in the process of being implemented.
Mr Collins said certain technologies used by Schneider and other companies recently acquired by BSX, were being transferred to the Irish operations, thereby creating employment here. The technologies would be ones used by the acquired companies to produce products similar to those produced by BSX.
He said the extra employment which would result from this was part of the job numbers for Ireland already announced by the company. The company has approximately 1,600 employees in Galway and 140 in Cork. It has plans for eventual employment of 2,500 and 1,050 respectively at the two plants.
The Galway plant is the company's core European operation. Mr Collins, who is a native of Limerick, has responsibility for Europe.
BSX is a medical technology firm that develops and manufactures diagnostic and therapeutic devices. Its plant in Ballybrit, Galway, is one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the west of Ireland.
