He holds out little hope the remaining design and engineering jobs left at the Silverstream site will be retained, despite Appliances saying the 90 staff will remain as part of a 1600-strong New Zealand-wide appliances team after redundancies are completed in May next year.
Former manager Chris Staynes, contacted in Hong Kong yesterday, said cost pressures which emerged in about 2000 were the first indication of the possibility manufacturing might have to move offshore, and by December 2006 this was so apparent he aired his concerns to management and resigned.
"I parted on good terms. [However], once manufacturing went to [sites] in the United States and Italy, it seemed to be only a matter of time. I didn't want to take apart something I helped to build over 20 years,'' he said.
Mr Staynes, who was Mosgiel plant manager for 10 years, started in 1971 with its predecessor, Shacklock, assembling reflector toasters and by late 1996 was general manager. At present, he is a Dunedin City Council councillor, Otago Chamber of Commerce director and retains other private business interests in the city.
At his time of resignation, Mr Staynes picked a 10-year time frame before Mosgiel might have been closed, but not 18 months later.
"I was given a heads-up [told on Wednesday] and couldn't sleep... It's a tragedy for the city, but more so for the people on the Taieri. They were a wonderful team,'' he said.
"Clearly, this decision was all about [manufacturing] volume and getting profitability up. The company is high innovation, high design, high technology... but that philosophy was pushed to the background.
"The company is charged with giving a return to shareholders funds, but staff won't give the commitment, and give all their best, when it's [solely] about money,'' he said.
Appliances was now targeting the "middle mass'' market to boost volume and profitability, but had Mr Staynes stayed he said he would have argued to stay in the high-end, high-price market, which could, to some extent, absorb the $50 per-unit freight costs, plus warehousing and distribution in foreign markets.
In choosing volume growth, based at offshore manufacturing sites, Appliances would become either a "hugely successful international company'' in five years, or be left ripe for takeover, he said.
It "did not make sense'' to leave the remaining 90 design and engineering staff at Mosgiel in a plant the company had already indicated would be sold.
