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Marine electronics manufacturer Navico is laying off 30 staff from its Northcote, Auckland factory after cutting 40 jobs during the winter.
John Scott, Navico Asia Pacific's chief operating officer, said yesterday that the latest 30 jobs were cut due to a downturn in demand for product.
Around 160 people worked at Navico's manufacturing plant at the start of this year but after the latest round of cuts, about 90 people would remain, he said.
The effects of the United States downturn had already been felt by the business but the latest cuts were due to a downturn in demand from Europe, Scott said.
"In the first half of this year, the drop in demand came from the US but in the second half, it's Europe that has decreased. America is beginning to bottom out and Europe is catching up but our two biggest markets have dropped 30 per cent," he said.
Some of the 30 employees who are leaving had been with the business for five years and Scott expressed deep regret about the losses, which were announced this week.
He regretted the timing just a fortnight before Christmas but said Navico had made a generous offer to those who were leaving.
The 30 were leaving in stages, some going immediately, others before Christmas and some in the following month, he said.
Those who had to leave before Christmas would be paid for holiday leave, he said.
Navico's Albany-based research and development and engineering business was staying untouched, he said.
In March last year, Navico bought the marine division of Navman, the electronics business started in Auckland by Peter Maire.
In May, Navico chose to make Auckland its international hub for research and development.
Navico, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, picked the North Shore division of its international business, going on a global recruiting drive to employ 50 more staff in manufacturing and support in the past year.
