The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has today called on Government to better support SMEs, the primary job creators in the country, in their efforts to grow their businesses and increase employment.
The Association noted that, while 56,000 jobs had been created in the past twelve months, there has been a general slowdown in job creation as a result of wage pressures and the increase in the minimum wage is acting as a brake on new employment.
ISME CEO, Mark Fielding commented, "As we move towards the end of the government's term we must re-evaluate the current business environment and the obstacles that are hindering job creation.
"The increase in the minimum wage which will come into effect in January is acting as a disincentive to owner-managers who might otherwise have considered employing extra staff.
"The resurgence in the economy is simply not stable enough yet to withstand this extra labour cost and the resultant knock-on wage pressures from other employees. It was a policy decision borne of re-election ambitions rather than fiscal or economic prudence."
Source: www.businessworld.ie