Datalex, the Howth-based travel software group, will cut 20 per cent of its Irish staff and make significant reductions at its global operations.
About 20 staff in Howth were issued with redundancy notices yesterday and it is expected a further eight staff will ultimately leave the company employment.
Shares in Datalex also fell more than 20 per cent yesterday on the Nasdaq. The stock closed at $1.61, down $0.49.
Sources suggested last night international job cuts would follow a similar pattern as Datalex strove to reach profitability by the first quarter 2002.
The company, which employs some 120 people in the Republic and about 462 people in total, issued a bearish trading statement in early July.
The company said sales in the second quarter were down to $7 million from $7.9 million and indicated it was planning a substantial cost reduction programme.
At the time, Datalex chief executive Mr Neil Wilson said there was increasing evidence of a temporary decline in the demand for Datalex's solutions due to the weaker macro economic conditions.
"Revenues had been hit by delays in decisions on contracts by some of its customers and lower than expected revenues from existing contracts," he added.
A company spokeswoman would not comment specifically on the job cuts but confirmed there was an ongoing restructuring programme. Full details would be provided on August 8th, she added.
