"The writing was on the wall for a long time now, " said the employee, who asked not to be named because redundancy terms are still being negotiated with the company. "We were doing less and less work ourselves and more of it was being outsourced to third parties so we could definitely see it coming. What we were working on, GSM technology, wasn't doing well, " the employee said.

Another manager at the company, who also asked not to be identified for the same reason, said employees of the Cork plant had helped to get third-party manufacturers get up and running during trips to China in recent years.

Some observers speculate that much of the work being done in Cork will end up being done at a lower cost in China, but it's not quite as simple as Irish jobs going to China.

"It doesn't translate to 320 jobs leaving Cork for China, " said the manager.

"The company is getting a new strategy.

High-end managerial and programme controls stay in Europe, but the lowerend work goes elsewhere. . . We expected cutbacks but we didn't expect the Cork site to close."

The first employee said some of the Motorola staff have decided to leave the technology industry altogether.

"It's just too hard now to compete with Asian countries. I'll be looking for other things along with along with other people who work here. A lot of the workers here are doing conversion courses to get into the pharmaceutical industry.

There is no future in it, " she said.

On Monday, all 320 employees were called into their canteen, or 'town hall', and told the news by Motorola's head of GSM technology.

"When I saw that they had flown her in from the states, I knew it was going to be bad news. It was all over in a matter of six minutes. It is such a pity because Motorola was a great place to work. We had a great atmosphere and excellent benefits, " she said.

Michelle Quinn of the Irish Software Association said Ireland was "seriously losing our competitiveness" because of rising costs and that this was reflected in Motorola's decision, but added that the employment outlook for most Motorola employees was positive.

"We believe any people who are laid off have an excellent chance of securing new employment. At the moment many companies, both MNC and indigenous, are looking for talented and well-educated people. In 2004, Irish software technology firms contributed Euro1.4bn to the economy. By 2010, the sector could contribute annual revenues of Euro7.5bn to the Irish economy, " she said.

The Motorola manager said that company CEO Ed Zander was making a mistake in shedding the Cork jobs.

"It's a short-sighted, short-term solution, " said the manager. But she was confident that other companies would seize the available talent, and that the skills of managing development processes would transferable to other multinationals.

"The media got it right last week.

They really are the cream of the crop.

Some company will do well out of this.

Just not Motorola."