Texas Instruments has announced the closure of their facility in Villeneuve-Loubet, with the loss of over 500 jobs.
Major contributor to the local economic scene, Texas Instruments, has announced the closure of their plant in Villeneuve-Loubet, with the resultant loss of 517 jobs. The news comes on the back of the decision by the head office in Dallas to cut 1,700 jobs worldwide. These redundancies are being blamed in part on the likes of Apple and Samsung, who have started to manufacture their own processors for their own lines of smartphones and tablets.
The company has been based in the 20 hectare campus in Villeneuve-Loubet since 1963, and was the only research and development facility that Texas Instruments had in France. The company has other operations in Boulogne-sur-Seine, which remain unaffected. This is a major economic setback for the locality, and the road to recovery is going to be a long and slow one.
This decision has been met with consternation by local unions, employees and politicians alike, much akin to a similar situation three years ago, when the company let go more than 300 employees in another global redundancy move. Of the current batch of employees, only a group of 27, involved in the field of telecommunications, will be keeping their jobs, and will be moved to another facility in due course.
The plant in Villeneuve-Loubet will continue to operate until May 2013, when, instead of celebrating 50 years as a major economic influence on the Côte d’Azur, it will be closing its doors for once and for all.
Lead image Datamath Calculator courtesy Texas Instruments
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