A report from
employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. revealed Thursday that
the U.S. businesses announced 34,817 job cuts in December, down 23.5 per cent
from the 45,510 layoffs announced in November. The December reading
was the lowest since July.
In 2023, U.S. employers announced
intentions to cut 721,677 jobs, the highest annual total since 2020. Compared
to 2022, planned cuts surged 98.4 per cent.
According to
the report, Technology led all industries in job cut announcements in 2023 with
168,032 (or 23.3 per cent of all announced job cuts). It was followed by Retail
(78,840, or 10.9 per cent of all cuts), Health Care/Products (58,560, or 8.1 per
cent), and Financial (57,052, or 7.9 per cent).
Commenting on
the latest report, Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray
& Christmas Inc., said that layoffs had begun to level off, and hiring had
remained steady as 2023 ended. “That said, labour costs are high,” he noted,
adding that “employers are still extremely cautious and in cost-cutting mode
heading into 2024, so the hiring process will likely slow for many job seekers
and cuts will continue in Q1, though at a slower pace”.