* Sorry about the lack of posts in recent days. We had a new exam system in the school over Christmas which seems to have increased the scale of corrections substantially - for me at least! But leavonomists, rest assured, normal service resumes from today. *Well, this week brought us one of the worst pieces of news since the recession hit when Dell in Limerick announced 1900 job losses over the next 12 months. The manufacturing plant is moving to Poland. 450 people will lose their jobs by the end of April, with the remainder gone by next Christmas. About 1,000 high-value jobs will remain in Limerick, but for the workers who were losing their jobs, the decision was final and would not be reversed.
The job losses are a huge blow for the mid-west region, but the knock-on effects may be far worse. Dell confirmed that 1,500 jobs in other locally based companies supplying it would be directly affected by the downsizing. Local business leaders have estimated that as many as 5,000 people could lose their jobs by the end of the year, as the shockwave from the announcement hit the city. With unemployment rates in Limerick among the highest in the country, and jobs going by the day across a range of industries, the chances of re-employment for many are slim, at best. In all, the events of this week are yet another reminder that the country's largest employers no matter what sector they're in - Waterford Crystal, Tara Mines and now Dell - are vulnerable to the vicissitudes of a wildly turbulent global economy.
The job losses are a huge blow for the mid-west region, but the knock-on effects may be far worse. Dell confirmed that 1,500 jobs in other locally based companies supplying it would be directly affected by the downsizing. Local business leaders have estimated that as many as 5,000 people could lose their jobs by the end of the year, as the shockwave from the announcement hit the city. With unemployment rates in Limerick among the highest in the country, and jobs going by the day across a range of industries, the chances of re-employment for many are slim, at best. In all, the events of this week are yet another reminder that the country's largest employers no matter what sector they're in - Waterford Crystal, Tara Mines and now Dell - are vulnerable to the vicissitudes of a wildly turbulent global economy.
