Manufacturing firm CDE Global announces job losses due to Covid-19

  • Co Tyrone-based manufacturing firm CDE Global has announced a number of job losses due to the pandemic, putting its previous growth plans on hold.

    While the NI tech industry has actually seen some growth during the covid-19 lockdown, traditional businesses across the region have faced difficulties. Cookstown-based engineering firm CDE Global has now joined the growing list of NI manufacturing firms that is planning to cut its workforce in response to poor market conditions.

    The company develops wet processing equipment and had been doing extremely well in recent years. The company announced in 2018 that it was on track to hit £100m in turnover, and later revealed its state of the art new headquarters in Cookstown that would become a Centre of Excellence for engineering.

    Manufacturing has been particularly badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis, with many unable to do their jobs during the pandemic, exports being disrupted, and new contracts being put on hold. While CDE says that the number of jobs that will be cut will be small, it's begun a consultation process on the cuts that's normally required only if a firm is letting go of 20 or more employees at once.

    CDE Global announced plans last year to expand with up to 150 new jobs, so this reduction in staff comes as a tough blow for local manufacturing. Its new headquarters were unveiled in February last year following significant growth of 65% across the previous two years, and the firm was working with local educational institutions to provide career pathways into industry.

    Source: Irish News

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    Brendan is a Sync NI writer with a special interest in the gaming sector, programming, emerging technology, and physics. To connect with Brendan, feel free to send him an email or follow him on Twitter.

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