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Hewlett Packard
29/05/2009
Finance Secretary John Swinney will met management and staff at Hewlett Packard in Erskine today to discuss how the Scottish Government can help in the wake of the company's announcement on manufacturing job losses.
Following his meeting this morning, Finance Secretary John Swinney said:
"Yesterday's news was extremely disappointing, but it is important we now look to the future and discuss what can be done to mitigate the impact, both on the local economy and for affected staff.
"That was the message from this morning's meeting. The Scottish Government made clear that it would work our agencies SDI and Scottish Enterprise to look for alternative business opportunities for the effected parts of the site.
"And we will start work immediately on helping each and everyone of the staff who face losing their jobs. The quality of the workforce here in Erskine is beyond doubt. Importantly the company agreed this morning to cooperate in efforts to help find new job or retraining opportunities for staff affected by yesterday's announcement. That task will be taken forward by Skills Development Scotland through the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment initiative.
"There are now several months before the company's restructuring goes ahead, giving us a real opportunity both to get staff the help they need before they are out of work and to explore what options there are for the site's future.
"In a wider context the Scottish Government will continue to drive forward our economic recovery programme. That includes important measures to help people stay in work or find work. And it also includes significant support for manufacturing in Scotland - including the doubling of the size and reach of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service."