PINELLAS PARK, Fla.— Transitions Optical announced Wednesday that it will significantly reduce manufacturing volumes at its manufacturing plant in Tuam, Ireland. The company said the cutback may result in approximately 60 “redundancies” from a total workforce of 173.

“We have looked at this every way we can and we have little option,” explained Kevin Minton, director of the Transitions Optical plant. “Manufacturing volume will be moved to Asia to look after our clients there, while the remaining manufacturing done here will be for our European customers. The customer support and administration functions will remain here as well.”

Employees whose positions are ultimately made redundant will receive “a generous severance package, which will include outplacement services,” Transitions Optical said in a statement.

The exact number of redundancies cannot be confirmed until a consultation period has been completed, according to Transitions Optical. It is expected that redundancies will be completed by the end of the year, the company said.