Jobs and Unemployment Watch - Unemployment 7.7 % and Rising - 450 headline losses today

Exactly JohnFás. I know a few really dedicated young secondary school teachers, who are holding on to contracts by their fingertips.

115 jobs to go in Elan, between Athlone and Dublin.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0225/elan.html

We are just losing someone from our office who we weren't able to offer a permanent job to - although we want to keep her, things are too uncertain to commit.

She has sorted herself out a job in the Alps for two months, followed by an internship in NY.

She is lucky in being very good at what she does, very self confident and able to travel anywhere and able to take a low wage.

I really don't know how she has pulled it off in the times we're living in, but good luck to her.

I know of several large accountancy firms who are making major job cuts at the moment. Another is making across the board pay cuts rising from 10% to 20%.

- 55 to go at Carphone Warehouse.
- 180 to go at building supplies firm Wolseley.
- 100 to go at Sanmina-SCI a medical components manufacturer in Fermoy.
- 115 to go at Elan (as mentioned above)

Headline losses today: 450.

I now know of another accountancy firm making large job losses and pay cuts beginning at 15%.

A lot of companies were bought up for far too much in the last five years. They will be sold off at a loss and the new buyers will slash and burn to survive.

A lot of eircom workers got shares and the age profile is old. Hopefully it will be mainly an early retirement thing for them.

The Aussies must really hate Ireland at this stage... that is a serious hit Babcock have taken owing to Eircom and Harvey Norman is having huge losses owing to its investment in Ireland.

Do ye think we're reaching tipping point yet - with regard to investors taking fright and stampeding out of the country?

If this is the case and if it's coming, what does this say about our goverment's estimates thus far?

johnfás wrote:

The Aussies must really hate Ireland at this stage... that is a serious hit Babcock have taken owing to Eircom and Harvey Norman is having huge losses owing to its investment in Ireland.

Ah go 'way.

The Aussies must hate Babcock and Brown for being as daft as the Irish who bought the overpriced shares.

Nobody, unfortunately, held a gun to Harvey Norman's head when they considered planting Ireland.

Well they haven't got their estimates right in years so I wouldn't hold out too much hope now either.

I'm not sure how keen I am on terms such as tipping points. I think they do exist in stock markets where you have a real herd mentality and you can buy and sell your stock with the click of a mouse. Business is very different to the stock exchange in that you have made an investment in terms of property, training, plant and machinery etc and you will make your decisions based on what is best for your company rather than following everyone else.

Even for alot of foreign owned companies based in Ireland it would be a considerable undertaking to leave. Most of them aren't the size of Dell and most of them wouldn't have a ready made factory in another country.

That isn't to say that job losses aren't going to continue with considerable pace though.

Hermes wrote:

Do ye think we're reaching tipping point yet - with regard to investors taking fright and stampeding out of the country?

If this is the case and if it's coming, what does this say about our goverment's estimates thus far?

Hermes - its the loss of competitivity, caused by the Government spending too much and general overheating, that started the stampede. The FDI also pushed wages up and made it impossible for local manufacturing to survive.

Dell left in part because of energy costs. Lack of broadband also has driven other people out. We would have lost thousands of jobs without the international slump. Jobs are going for both reasons now. Obama is changing tax terms and that will cut out the benefit of locating in Ireland.

I don't think we can solve all this in Ireland on our own. We need a survival strategy and a long term strategy for big changes.

Fair enough on the estimates. Though I do think that in this case the difference between what's been predicted and what will result will be spectacular.

The tipping point thing: I see where you're coming from but I think there must come a point in each endeavour where one must say to one's self: "Christ, I'm going to get burned here if I don't cut my losses." Couple that with the idea that there are very few self sufficient companies out there. As unemployment rises, service industries being unable to meet demands or cover their costs will fold too, leaving dependent companies stranded. My tipping point comment was probably a bit vague in making this point and indeed what I'm describing is an acceleration as opposed to a single mass exodus. I suppose the tipping point would correspond to the point where the acceleration is at such a massive rate, that the exodus seems to be simultaneous?

Hermes wrote:

Do ye think we're reaching tipping point yet - with regard to investors taking fright and stampeding out of the country?

If this is the case and if it's coming, what does this say about our goverment's estimates thus far?

if x if x estimate = any answer that suits your purpose.

Sorry, without reading all six pages can someone tell me what the rate of unemployment is in Ireland? 7.7 doesn't seem to bad - its only a percentage point higher than here and austeralia is being touted as 'immune' to the recession. (which is a load of shite) I thought this thread had 9.7 a few weeks ago - was one a typo or am I mistaken?

That's an old figure. The CSO just published its quarterly report to the end of 2008 - the 7.7 was from then.

http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1016068.shtml

Since then it has been going up at an unprecedented rate

http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1016094.shtml

There are a lot of people on short time, laid off, self (un)-employed, or on three day weeks who don't show up in the figures.

shutuplaura wrote:

Sorry, without reading all six pages can someone tell me what the rate of unemployment is in Ireland? 7.7 doesn't seem to bad - its only a percentage point higher than here and austeralia is being touted as 'immune' to the recession. (which is a load of shite) I thought this thread had 9.7 a few weeks ago - was one a typo or am I mistaken?

9.2% and rising rapidly. New figure due within a week.

300 jobs a day lost in February:


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0303/1224242150255.html

Cheers for the info

70 jobs for Ennis. No link just report on ClareFM.

This is not in McDonalds so people who were rejected there could apply to the Woodstock Hotel in Ennis which will reopen its doors at the end of the month after going into liquidation last October. Could be a good sign that our recovery will include the tourism industry as an important component and so perhaps it's something we could start throwing more at as the signs pick up. We're often talking about competitiveness in industry and enhancing our competitiveness but I think this is a perennial sector that we should be looking at making as competitive as possible as other industries contract around the world and move away. People will always travel, people will always want education and entertainment - always always always.

There are only so many houses, ipods and lexuses than can be made bought and sold.

Unemployment up to 10.4% in Feb

*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS RATE NOW 10.4%
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL INCREASED 26,500 LAST MONTH
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL 354,400 IN FEBRUARY

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0304/jobless.html

Dreaded_Estate wrote:

Unemployment up to 10.4% in Feb

*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS RATE NOW 10.4%
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL INCREASED 26,500 LAST MONTH
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL 354,400 IN FEBRUARY

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0304/jobless.html

These figures don't include short time/ 3 day weeks or self employed people with no work.

At least 60,000 people have left the country as well.

cactus flower wrote:

Dreaded_Estate wrote:

Unemployment up to 10.4% in Feb

*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS RATE NOW 10.4%
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL INCREASED 26,500 LAST MONTH
*IRELAND'S COWEN SAYS JOBLESS TOTAL 354,400 IN FEBRUARY

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0304/jobless.html

These figures don't include short time/ 3 day weeks or self employed people with no work.

At least 60,000 people have left the country as well.

All we need now is for Martin Cullen to say "No other country can match these growth figures. 7.7% in December, 9.2% in January and 10.4% last month. Show me a country who can match that! Go on, then!"

Zimbabwe.