Type
Internal restructuring
Country
World
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
USA, UK
Sector
Manufacturing
Manufacture Of Computer, Electrical Electronic And Optical Products
Manufacture Of Computer, Electronic And Optical Products
26.20 - Manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment

6,500 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
12 July 2016
Employment effect (start)
12 July 2016
Foreseen end date
1 April 2017

Description

Hard drive manufacturer Seagate is to cut around 6,500 jobs, or 14% of its global business. This is a follow up to plans to cut 3% of its global workforce by end of financial year 2017. 70 of these jobs are in Derry, where Seagate has 1,400 staff, although this is likely to increase as the proportion of the workforce being cut has been raised.

The cuts are a result of Seagate’s main product, a hard disc drive, being increasingly superceded by solid state drives, particularly in the mobile sector. Indeed, worldwide PC shipments fell 4.5% to 62.4 million in the second quarter of 2015. Markets have responded, with shares up 8.8% following the announcement. The restructuring will likely cost around $164 million. Employees in mainland Europe, the Middle East, and Asia will likely also be affected going forward.


Sources

  • 12 July 2016: BBC
  • 11 July 2016: Fortune
  • 12 July 2016: Derry Journal

Citation

Eurofound (2016), Seagate Technology, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 88228, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/88228.