The Irish telecoms sector received a blow today after Volex Interconnect Systems confirmed it is to layoff 150 staff from its Mayo plant.
Four of the staff laid-off were permanent while the remaining 146 were on temporary contracts.
The electronic components company is one of the largest employers in Castlebar. It said 686 workers will remain following the job cuts.
A spokesman for the company said the move followed a downturn in the communications sector with companies like Cisco, Lucent and Nortel - customers for Volex - cutting their order book.
Volex arrived in Castlebar in 1992 and it is now the company's European headquarters.
The company said if there is an upswing in the sector it hoped to re-employ some of the workers. The company has also been cutting jobs at sister plants in Croatia Estonia, and Sweden.
Volex has 39 plants worldwide and employs over 15,000 people.
