Four-year high in number of workers made redundant

Redundancy figures hit a four-year high in 2007 with more than 25,000 losing their jobs over the course of the year.

The figure was 7.5 per cent higher than 2006 but growth was down on the double-digit increase earlier in the year.

The number of people losing their jobs in December was 1,719, a significant reduction on the 2,081 who were made redundant in the same month in 2006, according to figures supplied by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. However, for the year as a whole, 25,459 people lost their jobs compared to 23,684 in 2006.

Only once in the last decade, in 2003, was the number of annual redundancies higher than in 2007.

The figures do not take account of the 480 jobs lost with the closure this week of the Burlington Hotel.

Other significant job losses announced in December included the axing of 500 jobs at medial devices group Abbott Laboratories, the closure of Thomson Financial in Shannon with the loss of 65 jobs and the loss of 40 jobs in Bray, Co Wicklow, with the closure by Trinity Biotech of a plant there.

The Abbott jobs come on top of job cuts announced earlier in the year by rival medical device firms Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson.

A number of major job losses were announced in 2007, including the departure of 500 staff from struggling luxury goods group Waterford Wedgwood.

Telecoms group Eircom also announced plans to cut 900 jobs over three years, while Coca-Cola's decision to close a drinks concentrate plant in Drogheda, Co Louth, saw 250 jobs lost.

A breakdown by sector indicates that troubles are mounting for the building and construction sector.

Losses in this are accounted for almost 28 per cent of all redundancies in December compared to just 15 per cent of the figure for 2007 as a whole.

Despite the turmoil in financial services last year, the banking, finance and insurance sector accounted for just 3.4 per cent of jobs lost.

The department notes that the numbers made redundant last year amount to 1.2 per cent of those at work. This is broadly in line with the figure for the previous two years as the overall number of people in employment in the State continues to rise.