Almost five people lose jobs in Offaly every two days

Almost five people have lost jobs in Offaly every two days this year, according to new figures. Redundancy figures published this week show that 787 people were made redundant in the county by the end of November. However, the Government said the decline in redundancies compared to last year showed that the labour market was stabilising. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe said new figures for redundancy claims for the first eleven months of the year showed a drop of 16,970, or 23%, on the number filed for the same period last year. In the first 11 months of last year, 72,880 redundancy claims were lodged to the Department and, so far this year, that figure is 55,910. The decline is evident locally too, with 939 people made redundant by November 2009 in Offaly compared to the 787 to date this year. However, ISME, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, warned the Government not to use the reduction in redundancies as their 'get out of jail card', concerning the jobs crisis. The Association outlined that while numbers have reduced, there were still 210 individuals losing their jobs on a daily basis, with little chance of gaining employment in the foreseeable future, unless a national jobs strategy was introduced. Nationally, 42% of the redundancies were in construction and manufacturing. However, 45% of job losses were in the services sector and females now account for 37% of redundancies, confirming that job losses continue to be spread throughout the whole economy. According to ISME Chief Executive Mark Fielding: “No doubt Government officials will pat themselves on the back and proclaim that their policies have led to the latest reduction in redundancies. The reality, however, is that 210 individuals a day are losing their jobs, primarily as a consequence of a failure by Government to take the issue seriously. “The fact that so many people are still being made redundant is no time to celebrate. The reality is that businesses are continuing to struggle and to shed significant numbers of jobs. Unless the Government realise this fact and introduce policies to support business, the jobs crisis will continue, undermining any future growth potential.â€