2008Review: ESTATE AGENTS:At least a quarter of all estate agents have lost jobs, writes Fiona Tyrrell

CONSERVATIVE estimates put the level of job cuts among estate agents this year at 25 per cent. A drastic drop in the volume of residential sales forced estate agencies to adopt drastic survival strategies and redundancies, salary cuts and reduced working hours became a new facet of the residential property scene.

There are predictions that 2009 is going to be tougher than 2008. "Morale is on the floor. People who are in employment are worried about serious things like family and mortgages. There is also the feeling that things have to get worse before they get better," says one agent who did not want to be identified.

With residential sales at a standstill and sales transactions down 80 per cent on peak figures, according to some, it was inevitable that drastic measures would be taken.

At the peak of the property boom there were 2,500 estate agency licences and around 10,000 employed in the auctioneer business.

One agent estimates that this figure is now down around 40 per cent.

The IAVI's Alan Cooke says he would be "astonished" if the figure was that high, saying that the figure is likely to be closer to 25-30 per cent in IAVI firms. Fintan McNamara from IPAV estimates that 25 per cent of jobs in the sector have been lost.

An accurate picture of redundancies and resignations will only come to light early next year, after subscriptions notices to professional bodies are issued, says Cooke.

While job losses only hit the headlines in June when CBRE confirmed that it had laid off 13 of its 140 staff, downsizing had started in earnest at the start of the year.

After a slowdown in sales in the later half of 2007, firms stopped recruiting new staff for residential divisions.

By the summer months, transactions were dramatically down and Lisney announced that it was cutting pay by 10 per cent across the board. Sherry FitzGerald followed suit.

All summer there were rumours that other leading agencies were cutting jobs and pay, but agencies remained tight-lipped about precise figures.

Hand in hand with the redundancies, shrinking commissions prompted a growing volume of staff to leave. In some of the larger agencies resignations far outnumbered redundancies.

Meanwhile, agencies moved new homes staff to new or expanded lettings departments and considered diversification into commercial property and property management.

By the end of October the true story began to emerge. Sherry FitzGerald had shed over 20 of its 259 staff and cut the working hours of several more.

Over at Savills, 60 members of its 220 staff had been lost through redundancies and resignations. Lisney confirmed that 20 members of staff had left through resignations.

More recently residential sales staff at Lisney were put on a three -day week until next February. Ken MacDonald from Hooke MacDonald confirmed that staff numbers at his firm were down about a third. Eight members of staff had been let go (including economist Geoff Tucker) and the remainder were resignations.

Now agents are bracing themselves for tougher cuts in the new year, including branch closures.

"Firms will keep the strong branches open, but fringe locations are likely to be closed," according to one agent.

For those unfortunate to be made redundant or forced to resign due to economic pressures, the picture is bleak.

"In the past, agents would have gone to take up opportunities in places like the UK and Spain but there is nowhere obvious to go now other than Dubai and, from what I hear even Dubai is getting difficult," said the agent.

Smaller auction firms around the country also suffered job losses and a number closed shop. Others underwent mergers and consolidations.

Eimer O'Keeffe, CEO of REA property group, says cuts have been less drastic in the regions where operations were "tighter", compared to the capital. REA members have cut staff, on average, by 10 per cent, she says.

Another agent has a more sobering view. Smaller regional firms that had up to eight employees are now down to a skeleton staff of two or three, according to one agent.

Mark Campbell, regional director with ReMax, says that half of the organisation's franchise offices have closed between complete shutdowns, consolidations and mergers. These closure rates are not unique to ReMax, says Campbell, they are right across the sector.

Cooke predicts that the "attrition rate" among qualified estate agents will be lower than that among unqualified operators. The IAVI is offering to forgo membership fees of €350-€550 for 2009 to members who have been made redundant.

"What next year brings is new territory. If you are unfortunate to be made redundant it is difficult to envision where you can go. There is no development taking place, no land sales and the housing market has slowed down to a standstill," he says.