Twenty-eight staff have been made redundant from Fisher and Paykel Appliances' Mosgiel manufacturing plant.
The staff cuts were made ‘‘across the board'' in the whiteware plant's cooking and dishwasher manufacturing areas.
FPA vice-president of public relations Paul Brockett said the main factor behind the redundancies was housing market downturns in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
This had impacted on sales of FPA-manufactured cooking appliances, he said.
The introduction of more efficient manufacturing processes (already in use at the company's
Italian and US factories) had also reduced the number of manufacturing staff required.
‘‘The company reached a trigger point where it was uneconomical to keep staff on . . . we have had to realign the staff numbers to reflect these ongoing efficiency gains,'' he said.
Dunedin Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie said he was not surprised to hear about the job losses, which happened last Friday.
‘‘The high dollar and increasing manufacturing costs are making it difficult for larger companies.
‘‘We hope it's a temporary fluctuation.'' Dunedin's ‘‘reasonably good'' labour market meant workers had a fair chance of finding work.
‘‘These are not comforting words, but the labour market is reasonably buoyant. Obviously, any job losses are bad for a community,'' he said.
Last September, Mosgiel FPA plant management proposed afternoon shifts of 20 workers be changed to day shift.
In April FPA announced plans to relocate its electronics factory from Auckland to Thailand.
The company said 96 jobs would be cut, but savings of about $6 million a year before tax, for a one-off pre-tax cost of $5 million, would be made.
In August and September 2006 almost 60 jobs were cut at the Mosgiel and Tamaki plants including 18 engineering related jobs at Mosgiel, largely due to the purchase of an Italian manufacturer and doubling up of some positions.
