Five hundred jobs are set to be lost by the closure of the Bausch & Lomb contact lens plant closes in Livingston. The phased closure of the factory over next year and into 2011 comes from strategic decision to focus production in just two of its three plants globally.
The two other sites are the company's base in Rochester in up state New York and Waterford in Ireland which hosts the companies research facility. This is the same number of jobs that Diageo is planning to axe in Kilmarnock, and the same fate that affect the Motorola, NEC and other production plants locally. The reason. The net effect of previous closures in that the once proud Silicon Glen is suffering its highest unemployment in a decade and 500 more people will slowly over time be added to that number.
Gerald Ostrov, chairman and chief executive officer of Bausch & Lomb said it was "not a reflection of how our people in Livingston have performed, their professionalism, or their dedication". However, the lose of another major employer from the West Lothian area is another body blow to people in the area.
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