US job cuts jump 319% annually in March: Report

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Job cuts in the US jumped 319% year-on-year in March, according to a report released Thursday by a Chicago-based outplacement firm.

US-based employers announced a total of 89,703 job cuts during March, which was an increase of 15% from 77,770 in February, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. said in the report.

In the first quarter of this year, employers announced a total of 270,416 cuts, a 396% increase from the 55,696 cuts announced in the same period last year.

On a quarterly basis, the January-March figure marks the highest first quarter layoff total since 2020 when 346,683 cuts were announced during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is also the highest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2020 when 497,215 cuts were recorded when the pandemic was in full effect and taking a toll on world economies.

"With rate hikes continuing and companies’ reigning in costs, the large-scale layoffs we are seeing will likely continue," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said in the report.

"The Technology sector is leading all industries, and this talent is in demand across industries. In fact, 38% of all cuts are in the Tech sector," he added.

Tech companies have so far announced 102,391 job cuts this year, while the figure is already up 5% from the 2022 annual total of 97,171. The sector is also on pace to surpass the highest annual total of layoffs in 2001, according to the report.

While financial companies announced the second-most job cuts in the first quarter with 30,635, a 419% annual increase, it was followed by health care/products companies and manufacturers, including hospitals, with 22,950 cuts in January-March period – up 65% annually.

More than a dozen companies in the US, especially in the tech sector, have been cutting jobs as the industry is struggling with lower income, falling ad revenue and fears of a recession.

Amazon, Yahoo, Affirm, Zoom, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, PayPal and Google's parent, Alphabet, have been laying off workers by the thousands in past months.