Redundancies level 36% up on last year

REDUNDANCIES IN 2008 are running 36 per cent ahead of last year, with 23,545 official redundancies in the first eight months, according to new figures released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

There were 3,181 redundancies in August under the State redundancy scheme, with the construction, manufacturing and services sectors all badly hit.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) said the number of redundancies was "spiralling out of control", with 680 jobs being lost every week. SFA director Patricia Callan said the redundancy statistics "should serve as a wake-up call that good quality jobs are going to the wall in all sectors of the economy and across all regions".

Ms Callan said owner-managers of small businesses were now faced daily with the difficult decision of telling someone they have lost their job in order to cut costs and give their business the best possible chance of surviving the downturn and keeping the remaining jobs secure.

She called on the Government and trade unions to moderate wage expectations in light of the poor international trading climate.

"Small businesses are already operating under severe global competitive pressures, with higher oil prices, a very difficult exchange rate and the international credit crunch causing liquidity issues for the domestic banking sector on which small businesses depend."

Ms Callan went on to call for strong action from the Government, which she said should help businesses trade their way out of the downturn rather than blame the poor international trading climate. "By focusing on the factors that are within our control domestically rather than blaming recession in America, global downturns, the currency crisis, high oil prices and the credit crunch for our misfortunes, we can continue to grow economically," she said.

So far in 2008, there have been 7,148 redundancies in the services industry and 6,513 redundancies in building and civil engineering. In the metal manufacturing, engineering and other manufacturing sectors, there have been some 6,588 redundancies. More than two-thirds of the people made redundant were male.

The spate of high-profile job losses during August included 250 at Howley Civil Engineering in Cork, 240 at the Tullamore plant of medical devices company Boston Scientific and 225 at building group McInerney.

More bad news is expected tomorrow, as the latest Live Register of people claiming jobseekers' benefits will be published.