A record number of businesses have sought advice about redundancies in the first three months of the year, according to new Employers and Manufacturers Association data.

EMA’s AdviceLine received 403 queries from businesses on the topic of restructuring and redundancies last quarter - almost double that in the same period two years ago (204).

EMA’s head of advocacy and strategy Alan McDonald says this reflects many years of tough economic conditions.

"The last resort play for a lot of businesses when they look at their costs is - well, we're going to have to restructure the number of people. And that's what's happening."

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