Translation  firm Berlitz GlobalNET has laid off another 40 staff from its Dublin operation at Dún Laoghaire for at least eight weeks.

The lay-offs from its workforce of 293 follow 21 redundancies made last November.

Berlitz said the latest redundancies were "temporary", but a spokesman said it could not give a definitive undertaking to rehire the workers at the end of the lay-off period.

The company translates software into different languages. Those affected in the latest cutbacks, who work in the quality assurance and engineering division of the company, were informed last Friday.

Asked whether workers could be certain they would be rehired after the "estimated" lay-off period of eight weeks, a spokesman said: "I don't think anything is cast-iron as such, but the hope is that they can be taken back."

The spokesman said he believed there were no plans for further staff reductions.

Berlitz attributed its difficulty to the "cyclical nature" of the translation business, but said its operations in the Irish market were still profitable.

The vice-president of its European operation, Mr Barry Kelly, said: "Global economic downturn has delayed decision-making on some of the company's key contracts, many of which Berlitz envisaged would commence at this time.

"There has been a significant slowdown inside the last two quarters. The current market conditions and economic environment has resulted in the company having to make difficult decisions to ensure the future stability and profitability for the entire company."

Berlitz entered the Irish market in 1991 with the purchase of SoftTrans, a software company.

The company said it would honour pension, holiday and VHI commitments during the lay-off period, and that work contracts of departing staff would be recognised.