A former United States-based design and engineering centre for manufacturer Fisher and Paykel Appliances will be relocated to Dunedin, when the whiteware manufacturer can find suitable central city premises for its remaining 130-plus staff.
Following the mid-April announcement that its Mosgiel plant will close next year with the total loss of 430 jobs, Appliances announced about 90 engineering staff would be relocated to Dunedin and it would also set up a new 40-person call centre alongside the engineers.
Vice-president of investor relations, Paul Brockett, confirmed yesterday up to 180 staff would be finishing on January 30 next year, about six to eight weeks earlier than anticipated.
"Given the slowdown in all markets globally over recent months, the required stock build will be finished slightly earlier than initially expected, when first announced in April this year," Mr Brockett said yesterday.
Despite several months' diligent work looking for premises around central Dunedin, nothing suitable had yet been found, he said.
Alongside the Mosgiel closures, in favour of manufacturing offshore, there was a total more than 1000 redundancies at other offshore Appliances plants.
Mr Brockett said the US brand Dynamic Cooking Systems, purchased by Appliances, had its design and engineering centre, which included designing cookers, wall ovens and barbecues, in the US.
It had closed with the manufacturing shift to Mexico, and DCS design would be shifted to Dunedin and would include a small increase in the number of positions.
Appliances will continue with a staggered reduction of different production lines between now and June next year, covering more than 150 staff positions, before it vacates its Mosgiel premises for new owner Fonterra.
