100 jobs are at risk after the decision of the National Pen to transfer fulfillment operations

The CEO of National Pen said 100 jobs are at risk at Dundalk as it moves fulfillment operations to its facilities in the Czech Republic.

In a statement released Friday evening, company president Peter Kelly said the decision was made because « closer proximity to the market will enable faster deliveries to our core customer base across mainland Europe. »

He added that the company « is digitally transforming our business from a value-based brand to a service-oriented brand, » with a key aspect of the transformation being reduced response times to customer requests.

“The ongoing supply chain environment, along with a customer base that is increasingly shopping online, has led to our efforts to invest in technology, e-commerce and supply chain capabilities to remain best-in-class in our industry.

For this reason, we plan to discontinue implementations at our Dundalk facility from next calendar year, 2023.

“From 2023 onwards, we plan to fulfill European orders at the National Pen facility in the Czech Republic as our proximity to the market will enable faster deliveries to our core customer base across continental Europe.”

in danger

Mr. Kelly said that moving implementations into next year “in no way reflects the excellent work our fulfillment teams have done over the years at Dundalk,” however, he emphasized “100 fulfillment roles will be at risk as a result of this restructuring.” operational ».

There are approximately 200 non-executive roles at the Dundalk facility that will not be affected.

Mr. Kelly added: “National Pen remains fully committed to Dundalk as our international headquarters and an important location of operational importance.

“We plan to increase investment in our online operations in Ireland by creating 50 new technology and e-commerce jobs in Ireland over the next five years in partnership with IDA.”

Responding to the news, local workers TD Ged Nash said: « The news of more job losses in National Pen, which comes less than two years after a massive layoff in operation, is devastating to workers and families in Dundalk and across the region who depend on the company for their income.

« The company’s employees are experiencing the stress of restructuring and while the company says it is committed to the city, experience tells us to be vigilant about these commitments. »

« The company needs to learn and apply the lessons learned from the company’s latest round of layoffs and engage purposefully and respectfully with its loyal workers and their representatives regarding the legal redundancy consultation process, » added Mr. Nash.