Eggs and Baskets

The ROI attracted a lot of big IT companies into the country with grants and tax breaks and the like. All this contributed to the Celtic Tiger. The problem with this sort of strategy is that it's artificial and will only last as long as some other country offers a better deal. Add to that a global recession/downturn/slowdown* and you could end up with a mass exodus of employers.

If you have based a major part of your economic strategy on attracting one type of employer you could well be in trouble.

*Delete as applicable to your politcal allegience.

Nice to see democracy in action

Keep voting for the Lisbon treaty until you get it right then see how generous the EU can be with a 35% reduction for getting it wrong the first time.

Dell Limerick were eejits

I went for a job interview there once, and encountered ageism for the first time. The first question at the interview was "The average age here is 27 - do you really think you'd be able to fit in?" I was 32, and they obviously didn't. Plus they'd promised to pay my travelling expenses and reneged on that.

Needless to say in my next role I was able to change the 'buy Dell' policy to 'buy anything but Dell'.

Planning Ahead

"the Polish plant had been planned long before the Limerick shutdown"

Of course it was; you can't shut down a plant until you have somewhere ready to replace its capacity (presuming that there is still demand for the product).

The planning sequence is:

1) Decide to move production to cheaper location.

2) Plan, build and commission plant in cheaper location.

3) Close existing plant.

Simples (Meerkat squeak)

Dell Limerick?

There was young man from Dell

A computer he failed to sell

Made in Poland, said he

Can be yours for a small fee

And you get Windows 7 as well.

GIVES!

The word is GIVES!