Reaction to NEC job losses

The company says it is still committed to Livingston

The fear of redundancies at the NEC factory in Livingston has been looming for some time.

Now 600 job losses have been confirmed, politicians, union leaders and business leaders have reacted to the news.

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The regional secretary for the AEEU engineering union, Danny Carrigan, said he had hoped the job losses could have been smaller.

He said Tuesday's announcement was a particular blow, having come in the wake of the closure of the Motorola mobile phone plant in nearby Bathgate.

Mr Carrigan added: "This is a devastating blow to Livingston and bad news for Silicon Glen.

"The task force set up for Motorola should have its remit extended to cover NEC.

I deeply regret the necessity to reduce staff numbers at this facility

Hideto Goto, managing director of NEC Semiconductors (UK)

"We had hoped the numbers wouldn't be as high as 600 but that has come to nothing.

"We are reeling from one crisis to another in Silicon Glen. Let's hope we come to the end of this recession in electronics sooner rather than later."

NEC has blamed the global downturn in the market for memory chip products for the redundancy decision.

Hideto Goto, managing director of NEC Semiconductors (UK), said: "I deeply regret the necessity to reduce staff numbers at this facility.

"This is the first such action by the company during its 20-year history in Livingston.

"However, the current global semiconductor trading situation is widely considered to be the worst ever encountered by the industry and I see no indication of any real upturn in the foreseeable future.

"Given this climate the action taken, although severe, is essential to ensure a successful future for the plant, the remaining staff and to minimise the impact on the local economy."

Mr Goto said the corporation was committed to the future of the Livingston factory, its only European semiconductor wafer fabrication plant.

Willie Dunn, of West Lothian Council, said the jobs blow would have an impact in the area and in Livingston in particular.

But he added: "The big difference between Motorola and NEC is that the factory in this case is remaining open, so when business does pick up it will mean improvements in West Lothian.

The workers leaving Motorola and NEC are doing so with an enhanced and increased skills set which makes them more competitive in the labour market

Stuart Duffin, West Lothian Chamber of Commerce

"The task force for Motorola has been successful so far with 1,000 people finding jobs locally, but that task now gets harder and harder with more redundancies."

Mr Dunn went on: "Apart from the difference in the sheer number of redundancies, the means of production are staying within the plant and there are still going to be 1,000 workers employed at the Livingston plant.

"So when the markets return, we'll still have the means to expand the operation."

And Stuart Duffin, of the West Lothian Chamber of Commerce, tried to remain upbeat.

He said: "In West Lothian we are in a very fortunate position in that we have a very buoyant economy, we have an underdeveloped service sector and we have a skills set which isn't evident anywhere else in Scotland. So I think with this there is hope for the future.

"Also the workers that are leaving Motorola and NEC are doing so with an enhanced and increased skills set which actually makes them more competitive in relation to the labour market which must be of help for the future."

Enterprise Minister Wendy Alexander said her thoughts were with the workers and their families.

Wendy Alexander: Given assurances from NEC

She believed NEC's decision not to close the factory altogether was testament to the good workmanship of the Livingston staff.

Ms Alexander said: "NEC Management confirmed, when I spoke with them that the decision to retain the core, high value part of the Livingston operation safeguarding just under 1,000 jobs is an indication of the quality of the Livingston workforce.

"It follows high level discussions with NEC involving myself and senior Locate in Scotland executives both here and in Japan.

"Our immediate priority will be to work closely with the company to assist those made redundant find suitable alternative employment in the local economy.

"NEC has advised me of its intention to provide strong leadership in this matter, and has indicated its desire to work closely with the local agencies."

The Scottish National Party enterprise spokesman, Kenny MacAskill, described the job losses as another "hammer blow" for West Lothian.

Job creation

He said: "It compounds the agony that was felt with Motorola and to some extent is indicative of us not being in a position to adequately withhold a buffeting from the global recession.

"The main priority should be to try to ensure that we find jobs for the 600.

The Livingston plant produces memory chips for computers

"Although a task force was put into Motorola, there were complaints that the jobs were found by the individuals themselves rather than by the task force.

"We've got to ensure that every possible resource is made available so that these people can walk straight into another job."

Liberal Democrat MSP George Lyon attacked the electronics company over the way it handled the job cuts.

He said: "NEC have badly handled this announcement.

"They allowed speculation and leaks to the press to continue for weeks before today's announcement.

"NEC staff have been subjected to a lot of uncertainty over the past weeks and it is with regret that these job losses are the final outcome."

He added: "The task force set up to find work for those affected by the closure of Motorola must now be extended to help the workers at Livingston.

Local impact

"People must have the opportunity to re-skill and retrain for future employment opportunities whether in electronics or elsewhere."

David Crichton, of Edinburgh and Lothians Enterprise, said: "The redundancy response team and the company will be having their first meeting on Thursday.

"We are aware that the changes at NEC will have an impact on local businesses, and the services on offer from the redundancy response team will be made available to anyone employed by a supply company who loses their job as a result of the NEC decision."

Robert Crawford, Scottish Enterprise chief executive, added: "Scotland is a player in the global economy, and we will inevitably take our share of losses when there are cyclical downturns in particular industries.

"But if we are to build a world class economy we cannot withdraw from the global market."