Irish workers are feeling uncertain about their future, with 53% fearing for the security of their job, according to new SurveyMonkey research.

This SurveyMonkey study was conducted among a national sample of 841 adults in the UK, 736 in the Netherlands and 743 in Ireland.

With 84% of Irish employees working for companies who have made redundancies in the past year, a little over a fifth (22%) are fearful that they could be made redundant in 2023, with an additional 34% concerned for the long-term security of their job. 

Countrywide Redundancies

Almost one in three (31%) Irish workers believe up to 5% of staff have been let go, 30% believe up to 10%, and 14% believe up to a quarter have been let go—amounting to a huge swathe of countrywide redundancies.

Thirty eight percent of workers believe that things will get better in terms of outlook for the business they work for, whilst over a quarter (27%) believe things are going to get worse.

Three in 10 (29%) of Irish employees are also nervous about the survival of their current business past the next year.

AI Threat

One in five (19%) believe that AI poses a direct threat to their job and could make their role redundant, whilst 44% believe that AI could take over part of their current day-to-day activities. 

When looking to the future, some Irish workers (14%) believe AI will replace all human roles in the future. However, 36% are more optimistic believing that while some roles will be replaced, AI will also create new roles within the company that do not yet exist. 

'Future Vision'

“Companies are having to make difficult decisions to balance the books and ensure the long-term viability and success of their business, and redundancies are an unfortunate aspect of this," said Senior Director Customer Success EMEA at SurveyMonkey, Cormac Kelly.

"Whilst cost saving may be the main goal, it’s important to ensure businesses bring their remaining team along with them for the journey, and ensure they understand how valuable they are to the company and its future vision."

Source: www.businessworld.ie