3Com To Outsource All Manufacturing

3Com Corp. announced plans on Wednesday to outsource all of its manufacturing, cutting 1,000 jobs, about one third of its workforce, and closing its Dublin, Ireland, plant.

The Dublin plant is expected to close by February, after which contract manufacturers Flextronics International Ltd. and Jabil Circuit Inc. will take over the manufacturing, distribution, and related activities for all of 3Com's enterprise networking products.

In a statement, CEO Bruce Claflin said the cuts will improve productivity and reduce costs, helping enhance 3Com's ability to bring competitive products to market. The company hasn't released any financial details of the outsourcing agreement.

3Com also announced it will build a new Taiwan Design Center, which will manage the design and manufacture of low-end, standardized volume products. The company expects the center to be operational in its fiscal 2Q, ending in November 2003.