£8.5m economic impact of Texas Instruments closure
Task force reveals impact on economy and jobs.
The latest meeting of the task force set up after the announcement of Texas Instruments semi-conductor closure has heard that it will impact the Scottish economy by more than £8.5m a year and 564 jobs.
And the task force has pledged to continue the work to support finding a new buyer for the Greenock plant.
At the most recent meeting the economic impact was set out.
The closure of the plant will result in the loss of 318 direct jobs across Scotland. And, based on the employment and purchasing patterns there are also 45 contractors in the company supply chain.
An assessment of the potential job losses including direct, indirect and induced jobs reveals that 564 jobs would be lost to the Scottish economy.
Non-wage spending which would be lost to the economy is estimated at over £8.5m with £2.1m in the west of Scotland and nearly £6.4m the impact across the rest of Scotland.
The Task Force, chaired by Inverclyde Council’s Leader, Councillor Stephen McCabe, also heard that a further electronics company had shown an interest in the plant bringing the total of interested parties so far to five.
Task Force Chair and Inverclyde Council Leader, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said: “The scale of this closure clearly goes beyond the Inverclyde economy and will be felt in other areas of Scotland. These are sobering figures and ones that must galvanise all of the agencies to redouble our efforts to find a buyer for this plant. Inverclyde’s manufacturing sector has contributed for years to the Scottish economy through shipbuilding and electronics. It is right that all agencies work hard to make sure that we make every effort to find a buyer and that we find a way of mitigating the effect to the Inverclyde and the Scottish economy of this closure.”
Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse said: "The scale of employment impact presented at the meeting makes clear the importance for both Inverclyde and Scotland of working together to find a buyer for the plant. It is encouraging that there are a number of potential buyers of the plant, however, it must be an incredibly anxious time for the workforce and the local community, and the Scottish Government and its agencies will do all they can to support them and the wider work of the Taskforce.”