2010 has probably been
the most scrutinised and debated economic year in the history of the State and unemployment has been the focus of much discussion, with current employment in the economy standing at 1.86 million, down from 2.15 million at the peak. In excess of 60,000 redundancies were notified to the Dep-
artment of Enterprise, Trade & Innovation (DETI) in 2010, with the economy losing 1,075 jobs every week on average. In the final months of the year, the pace of job loss had eased
obs,
slightly; however, the live register figures for December 2010 showed an increase of 5,200. Tis was disappointing, as it end- ed a successive three-month fall in the figures. Te decline in the numbers at work in the Irish economy
in the final months of 2010 may reflect the impact on hir- ing plans due to the increased uncertainty about Ireland’s eco- nomic future. While Budget 2011 provided some certainty to the econ-
omy, it did not go far enough and provide the confidence that is desperately needed by consumers and the business commu- nity. Only when businesses feel more confidence will we start to see businesses invest, grow and create employment. It is also the case that the sectors reporting growth in activ-
ity in recent months tend to be less employment-intensive than those sectors experiencing weakness. Tis means there appears little prospect of a marked turnaround in Ireland’s jobs market any time soon. Analysis of occupational group data confirms that the
impact of job losses has been concentrated in the lower skilled occupations. Over one quarter (26pc) of live register claimants reported
‘craft and related’ as their last occupation; 16pc, ‘plant and machine operatives’; 18pc, ‘personal and protective services’; and 17pc, ‘sales occupations’. In contrast, only 4pc reported ‘managerial and administra-
tive’ as their last occupation, while 6pc were from ‘professional occupations’.
LABOUR MARKET MISMATCH
One third of the people on the live register are now classed as long-term unemployed after signing on for a year or more. Te task the Government faces in reskilling and retraining is daunting but necessary if Ireland is to avoid a prolonged period of structural unemployment. Ireland appears to be experiencing a classical labour market mismatch situation, with significant skills shortages in some areas, such as IT and specialist sales occupations, coupled with oversupply in other occupations. Redundancy figures from the DETI show that the “other
services” sector continues to be the hardest hit, with 38pc of all jobs lost in 2010 coming from this sector. Tese job losses are being compounded significantly by the
downturn in consumer spending. In 2010 the manufacturing sector showed the loss of just over 11,607 jobs and, given the global pressures and costs associated with doing business in Ireland, this sector maintains a worrying trend.
VOL 4 ISSUE 1 2011 OWNER MANAGER 49
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52