Careers and Jobs

2008 Update – 132 people losing job on a daily basis

20,392 employees have been made redundant over the fist seven moths of 2008. This equates to a 36% increase on the same period last year. DETE figures released do not make happy reading for the government or workers in Ireland. More worrying was the fact that 3,914 of the redundancies came in July which is further proof that the job market is in freefall.

What surprised me was the breakdown of these figures. Much spin has been put on the fact that the construction sector has created most redundancies but 6,531 females have been laid of which was higher than I expected. 13,861 men were affected by redundancy.

So where are the redundancy black-spots?

It is no surprise that Dublin has suffered the greatest with 7,500 of the redundancies falling in this region. This was followed by Cork with 1,853 redundancies and in excess of 1,000 in Galway and Limerick. Other counties with significant redundancies included Louth with 698, Waterford with 844 and Kildare with 940. Further north Monaghan has suffer 403 redundancies so far this year.

It looks like there is more bad news for the Insurance Sector with the announcement that Axa will shed 120 jobs at its Dublin offices. This news follows a previous announcement by Hibernian that they will shed 580 jobs moving them to Bangalore in India. We brought you rumours of this Hibernian announcement a few months back.

Axa plans to shed the 120 jobs through voluntary redundancy and there may be plenty of takers as they also plan to restructure pay scales. Basically those left in the company may have to take a pay reduction. This scenario is not uncommon in this climate as a leading Estate Agent in Ireland reported the same move recently to fight of the possibility of redundancies.

Axa has seen its turnover drop drastically over the last number of years so this latest news does not surprise many commentators. Having said this for those affected the news is always hard to take.

It also looks like Northern Ireland is not safe from the current economic conditions. Toughglass in Co Down has announced 60 compulsory redundancies.

If you have been affected by redundancy – a career coach, interview coach or CV service could help you navigate these difficult times.

There are fears of job loss at shannon-based firm Unbrako Europe SPS International following its sale to a US firm. Workers were informed of this news on Monday when they met the new owners. SPS has been based in Shannon since 1960 so is an established employer in the region. The company operates in the manufacturing sector making socket screws and fasteners for machinery and equipment.

Other news this week that will send shivers through munster is that Dell has closed a plant in Austin with the loss of 900 jobs. Dell is a huge employer in Limerick and Dublin. Dell is currently exercising global cost cutting and plans to reduce headcount by 10%. Hopefully Limerick and Dublin miss out on the job cuts.

We will keep you posted on other job news stories and relevant career, cv and interview advice for job hunting in Ireland.

We post a variety of career and job advice on this site. We post about new job creation in Ireland but we also post the negative jobs news. Negative job news has been dominating the media in Ireland as there have been quite a few redundancies over the last 12-18 months. I have worked with many employees affected by redundancy and you would be surprised at the mixed reactions. The fact remains that redundancy can affect an individuals confidence and self esteem. If you have been affected by redundancy you can seek support of your own back BUT quite often companies will put supports in place. This is normally called “outplacement”.

How does outplacement help employees?

Basically outplacement consultants help employees to navigate the difficult waters post redundancy. Organisations normally offer staff outplacement support to help them transition into new employment, education or training.

Typically outplacement will be in 1-1 or workshop format. The agenda will cover areas such as support to move on from redundancy, career direction, career assessments, cv design, job search strategies, interview coaching and preparation.

There are many providers of outplacement services in Ireland. Ideally your company will organise this BUT if your company is not providing support you can seek this support yourself.

If you are an employer and require more information about supporting your staff.

It seems people in Ireland have been affected by the numerous job loss announcements and consumer confidence has slipped back in February. Fear of job loss is making many Irish tighten the belts. The struggling US economy has put Irish workers with US multinationals on alert.

Job loss announcements in February have affected most sectors and include Arnotts, Allergan, Jacobs, Grove Turkeys and Sercom Solutions. There is also the shadow over SR Technics and the whole construction sector.

HIBERNIAN

If newspaper reports are correct Hibernian could be moving 250 back office jobs to India. Trade Union Unite hope to grill management at a meeting this Friday.

This outsourcing initiative by Hibernian could be as a result of parent company Aviva announcing 525m in cost cuts worldwide.

It seems that both Hibernian and the Unions are denying this.

Hibernian is Ireland’s largest general insurer and employs 2200 staff in Ireland (1500 of which are represented by Unite). If the jobs do go this would represent a 10% cut in workforce.

Let’s hope that this is just speculation but the signs don’t look good. Outsourcing to low cost economies seem is a well beaten path these days in Ireland.

DOMINO’S

There is some positive jobs news in that Domino’s Pizza has announce that it will be opening 7 new stores in Ireland with the creation of 225 jobs. They currently have 34 stores in Ireland

120 jobs lost at Sercom Solutions and 35 Jobs lost at American Power Conversion

For more information check out hrandrecruitment

Arnotts has announced that it will make 600 retail staff redundant. This is a huge blow for the staff and their families. Although the announcement was expected the numbers affected are greater that expected.

Voluntary redundancy will be offered but with 600 of the 950 staff need I guess they all will not be voluntary. These staff are facing a tough job market.

There are couple of points that are being under emphasised in most reports.

a) The store will employee 1200 staff when it reopens in 3 years time. Ok this is no consolation for the staff losing their jobs.

b) This is a 750 million redevelopment project so I guess it will support a struggling construction sector. I guess one workers pain is another workers gain.

Lets hope the staff affected are well looked after in their redundancy package and the proper supports are put in place for them

Employees at ICT Europe can sleep sound tonight as it has become clear that jobs are safe at the Belmullet plant for now.

We informed you yesterday that there were fears of job loss in Co. Mayo BUT these have been misplaced and jobs will not be transferrred to India or Philippines. Staff have been assured of their jobs with the only downsizing in the fact that 50 staff are reduced to a 4 day working week.

Great news BUT lets not hope this is the football equivalent of the board backing the manager and telling him his job is safe.