US-based employers, led by tech companies, announced 270,416 job cuts in the first quarter of this year, up 396 per cent from the 55,696 cuts announced in the same period a year ago, a report showed.
In March alone, employers announced 89,703 layoffs, up 15 percent from the 77,770 announced in February, according to a report by global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
This is 319 percent more than the 21,387 cuts announced in the same month in 2022.
“The March total is the third time this year that the cut was higher than the same month a year ago,” the findings showed.
“We know companies are approaching 2023 with caution, even though the economy is still creating jobs. With rates continuing to rise and companies reigniting costs, the massive layoffs we are seeing will likely continue,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
“The technology sector is leading all industries, and this talent is in demand across all industries. In fact, 38 percent of all cuts are in the tech sector,” he said.
Technology companies have announced 102,391 layoffs so far this year, up 38,487 percent from the 267 cutbacks announced in the first quarter of 2022.
That’s already up 5 percent from the annual total of 97,171 in 2022. It is on pace to surpass the highest annual total for the region announced in 2001.
The report states, “The only years during which tech announced more job cuts than in the current year were 2001, when 168,395 cuts were announced, and 2002, when 131,294 cuts were recorded. “
Financial companies announced the second highest number of job cuts this year with 30,635, which is 419 per cent higher than the 5,903 cuts announced in the sector in the first quarter of 2022.
Health care/product companies and manufacturers, including hospitals, announced 22,950 cutbacks in the first quarter of 2023, up 65 percent from the 13,923 cutbacks announced in the same period last year.
The media industry cut 582 last month for a total of 10,320. Of those, 1,438 were in digital, broadcast and print news.
“Planned hiring fell to 9,044, the lowest for March since 2015, when 6,412 new hires were announced. So far this year, US employers announced plans to hire 70,638, the lowest in the first quarter since 2016, when 26,898 new hires were recorded,” the report said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)