A report from
employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Revealed Thursday that
the U.S. businesses announced 90,309 job cuts in March, up 6.7 per cent from
the 84,638 layoffs announced in February. The March reading was the highest
since January 2023 (102,943).
According to
the report, the Government announced the largest number of job cuts in March (36,044,
or 39.9 per cent of all). This marked the highest monthly total for the sector
since September 2011(54,182). It was followed by Technology (14,224, or 15.8
per cent of all), and Retail (5,397, or 6.0 per cent of all).
In the first quarter, U.S. employers
announced intentions to cut 257,254 jobs, down 4.9 per cent from the 270,416 cuts
announced in the first quarter of 2023 but up nearly 120 per cent from the 117,163 cuts
announced in the fourth quarter of 2023.
From January
through March, Technology led all industries in job cut announcements with 42,442,
(or 16.5 per cent of all announced job cuts). It was followed by Government (36,195,
or 14.1 per cent of all cuts), Financial (28,715, or 11.2 per cent), and Services
(16,014, or 6.2 per cent).
Commenting on
the latest report, Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray
& Christmas Inc., noted that layoffs certainly ticked up to round out the
first quarter, though below last year’s levels. “Many companies appear to be
reverting to a ‘do more with less’ approach,” he added.