300 jobs per working day lost this year

MORE than 13,000 redundancies, or 300 per working day, have been reported to the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment since the start of the year, new figures show.

That is equivalent to the number reported in the first five months of 2008.

According to the figures from the department, there were 6,337 redundancies confirmed in February of this year. In the equivalent month in 2008, the figure was 2,838.

The total for January and February 2009 was 13,034. The figure for the two months last year was 8,366.

For the entire year in 2008, the figure was 40,607 — between 2005 and 2007 it averaged just 24,000.

ISME, which represents small and medium enterprises, said the situation was going to deteriorate, particularly over the next number of months, and said the lack of government action was having a devastating impact on the labour market.

“The figures also confirm that over half (51%) the redundancies were in construction and manufacturing,” said ISME chief executive Mark Fielding. “However, 32% of job losses were in the services sector and females now account for 29% of redundancies, confirming that job losses continue to be spread throughout the whole economy.

“The fact that 300 redundancies a day are being announced should set alarm bells ringing at government level. Until we get real leadership and a comprehensive employment plan, the country is going nowhere, with little hope for the generations to come.

“Small business employers are crying out for measures to address the situation and provide them with an alternative to redundancies.”

Patricia Callan, director of the Small Firms Association, said: “The Government must awaken from its slumber and recognise we have a serious crisis in jobs which, if appropriate measures are not immediately put in place to counter, could see the unemployment rate increase to 15% this year.”

The SFA called for a €600m operational programme fund for small businesses to grow, a Government-backed loan guarantee scheme for small businesses which would make the banking sector less averse to lending to established small businesses and for the Government to pay its own bills to small businesses within 10 days assisting cash-flow.