Brexit: 4 in 10 Irish companies worried about job cuts

Four out of 10 Irish businesses are concerned that Brexit may lead to future staff reductions in their business, according to a new survey.

The all-island survey, conducted by Performance Reward Consulting (PRC) in October, included 133 organisations, across market sectors, which employ more than 169,500 Irish staff. The median Irish headcount was 509 employees.

The number of businesses concerned about staff cuts is up 13 per cent since last year. When it comes to companies with staff on both sides of the Border, 58 per cent are concerned about reducing the headcount.

Despite those concerns, 90 per cent of businesses surveyed said they have continued investing as normal over the past three years, notwithstanding the uncertainty of Brexit.

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Of the 10 per cent of organisations that have deferred business investments in the last three years due to Brexit, half of them involved business investments in Ireland, with the other half involving business investments in the UK.

Some 9 per cent of businesses have relocated staff to the Republic, or are planning staff relocations into Ireland as a result of Brexit, which is up by 4 per cent over the past year.

In terms of preparedness for Brexit, 38 per cent said they were prepared; 47 per cent said they were only somewhat prepared; while 15 per cent said they were unprepared. However, this rises to 35 per cent in companies with staff on both sides of the Border.

"Clearly a lot of work on business contingency has been taking place in recent years, and many Irish organisations report that they have continued investing as normal," said PRC managing director Patrick Robertson.

“However, it is evident from our latest annual survey that an increasing number of Irish business leaders are worried about potential future staff reductions due to Brexit, with 40 per cent of survey respondents currently reporting this concern.”