Employment measures badly needed to assist business in supporting jobs - ISME

ISME, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, has called on the Government to focus its energies on saving jobs, by supporting businesses to maintain employment. Initiatives are urgently required to stop the haemorrhage of job losses, confirmed by the latest Quarterly National Household Survey. The Association outlined that unless real action is taken, the level of job losses will increase dramatically, particularly in the New Year.

The Quarterly National Household survey, the official recording of the labour force, confirmed that there were 280,000 people unemployed at the end of September, an increase of 15,000 on the previous quarter and 120,400 in a year.

According to ISME Chief Executive Mark Fielding, "From an SME perspective, a further increase in unemployment over the next number of months is on the cards as businesses struggle desperately to stay afloat and maintain employment. The Government's response to date has been piecemeal and inept, with the much lauded Employment Subsidy Scheme only available to less than 1% of all businesses. The reality is that those micro businesses that need the supports, are being excluded from availing of the scheme. The Government is abandoning these businesses and admitting that they and the individuals they employ are not worth saving".

"With NAMA and the Budget now out of the way the Government needs to focus on saving the wider economy by making a concerted effort to address the collapsing labour market, instead of announcing over hyped initiatives that, in their current guise, have an extremely limited success rate", continued Fielding.

"What is required is an overall employment strategy that will tackle the negative factors that are impacting on the business sector. The key part of this strategy should involve addressing the core issues of concern to business, in particular improving our competitive environment. This should include addressing rising costs, including local charges, tackling the cost of employment through the PRSI scheme, and forcing the banks to start lending to viable small businesses. The Employment Subsidy Scheme also needs to be extended to cover companies with less than 10 employees, if it is to have any impact on stopping the rot of job losses. Failure to act decisively now will leave a legacy of unemployment for years to come," concluded Fielding.

Budget breakfast briefing by Ernst & Young