THE closure of Sensata Technologies’ factory in Carrickfergus has been described as the latest devastating blow to manufacturing in Co Antrim.
The car components manufacturer said 270 jobs will go by early next year, including a small number at the US firm’s Antrim plant. A total of 1,178 people are currently employed across both sites.
Sensata expanded into the north in late 2014 through the acquisition of Schrader Electronics. Its main activities here involves the design and manufacture of tyre pressure monitoring systems.
The company, which specialises in sensors, switches and controls, said there had been a significant drop in European demand for its Carrickfergus-made products.
It’s the latest blow to manufacturing in Co Antrim, which is still feeling the impact from the loss of the JTI Gallaher and Michelin tyre plants. Official UK Government data published in December suggested that the loss of 800 jobs at JTI in Ballymena triggered a mild recession in the north during 2018.
Sensata said staff were notified on Friday morning, triggering a consultation period, during which it said alternatives to compulsory redundancy would be considered.
The 270 jobs to be axed includes a small number of operational support roles based in Antrim.
Chair of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s growth committee, Cllr Gregg McKeen, described the news as a devastating body blow to the local economy,
“Sensata Technologies has long been a major player in the local economy as one of Northern Ireland’s biggest manufacturing companies, so the closure of the site in Carrickfergus is a body blow for the area.”
He said the local authority is working to develop a package of support for workers affected, similar to the initiatives put in place following the September 2019 collapse of Wrightbus in Ballymena.
“A rapid redundancy response has been triggered by council and I, along with the council chief executive, will be working to keep the gates open and to mitigate the impact of this development for all those affected.”
In October, a set of Sensata’s accounts published by Companies House revealed it cut 216 production jobs in Northern Ireland during 2018. Despite the job losses and a 2.5 per cent dip in turnover, Sensata Technologies still ranked among the north’s most profitable businesses, posting pre-tax profits of $95.4 million (£73.5m).
The US group’s senior vice president of global operations, Yann Etienvre said its Carrickfergus plant had been hit by “a perfect storm of European market conditions”.
“There has been a well-documented fall in the global automotive industry and this has been further heightened by consolidation in our market, with existing customers being absorbed into large entities whose manufacturing processes use alternative products to our own.”
Mr Etienvre admitted that the US group had anticipated that proposed tightening of European legislation would drive increased demand for its sensing systems.
“Unfortunately, this has not happened as indirect sensing solutions continue to be permitted by the European authorities. In response we have had to review our organisational model,” he said.
“The proposed closure of our Carrickfergus site has been a very difficult decision for the company to make, and a number of actions were implemented to try to avoid reaching this point.”
He said external consultants would help provide ‘career transition advice and assistance’ for all affected employees.
Despite the significant job cuts over the past two years, the senior vice president said Sensata remained committed to its Northern Ireland operation.
“We continue to manufacture products at our Antrim site and we are on target with our plans to develop an R&D centre of excellence there. This investment in new products and a new technology centre will result in the creation of additional jobs in the next two years.”
