Governmnet figures released yesterday show that at least another 1,300 job losses could be announced this month on top of 255 yesterday and 600 last week.
The number of redundancies planned for March notified to the Department of Enterprise and Employment last month doubled to 2,097 from 1,052 in the same month last year.
Some of the notified redundancies have already materialised. Yesterday BD (Becton Dickinson) Medical Systems in Drogheda announced that it wanted to let go up to 95 of its 190-strong work force. Boston Scientific said it was to let 160 contract staff go in Galway.
Yesterday's job losses follow 350 redundancies announced earlier this month at Flextronics, the computer casing manufacturer based in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Already 250 jobs have been lost so far this month in Co Cork, including 125 at Youghal Carpets. Potentially another 1,300 job losses - or more - could be announced this month.
The notified redundancies figure is an imperfect measure of employment trends, but indicates that signs of economic recovery seen elsewhere in the economy have not yet fed through into job growth. Any company that employs more than 25 people is required to notify the Department in advance if it intends to let go any of its staff with more than two years' service.
The figure for February is the second-highest monthly figure in the last 12 months, beaten only by the 2,638 redundancies notified last November. The figure declined in December to 1,429 but has grown steadily to 1,928 in January and 2,097 last month.
The February number indicates no let-up in the trend which saw more redundancies notified last year than in any year since 1988.
BD Medical Systems wants to relocate part of its current production lines to other European facilities and replace them with new products that will require capital investment as well as significant restructuring of its plant on the Donore Road, Drogheda, where it has a workforce of 190.
In a statement, the company said: "This decision is aimed at securing the future of the Drogheda plant."
It is understood that if the redundancies and work changes are not achieved, the future of the plant could be in grave danger. The company located in the town in the 1960s and has in some instances provided employment to generations of families.
It manufactures syringes and other medical devices and has plants in the United States as well as other European states.
In Galway, Boston Scientific announced that it would be letting 160 staff on temporary contract go as their contracts expire between now and the end of June. The temporary staff have been involved in the transfer of product lines from the US to Galway where the company employs 2,000.
The notified redundancy figure is one of a number of factors leading Davy Stockbrokers to reaffirm its bearish outlook for the economy in 2002.
"All in all we see GDP growth at about 1.5 per cent, but even that will require a sharp pick-up in activity as the year unfolds," according to Mr Robbie Kelleher, head of research at Davy. Mr Kelleher's prediction contrasts with much more optimistic forecasts of up to 7 per cent growth made by rival forecasters.
"The fall in GDP that occurred in the second half of last year meant that the economy entered the current year with a significantly negative carry-over effect. Hence to achieve an average growth of 1.5 per cent will require a growth rate of some 5 per cent in the final quarter. That is a pretty demanding task," he added.
