Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tweet[IWS] Challenger: JOB CUTS LOWEST SINCE 1995 [30 March 2011]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Challenger, Gray, & Chrismas, Inc.
CONTACTS
James K. Pedderson, Director of Public Relations
Office: 312-422-5078
Mobile: 847-567-1463
jamespedderson@challengergray.com
Colleen Madden, Media Relations Manager
Office: 312-422-5074
colleenmadden@challengergray.com
March Job Cuts Decline 18% to 41,528
130,749 q1 job cuts lowest since 1995
CHICAGO, March 30, 2011 – While government-sector job cuts rose to their highest level in 12 months, the pace of downsizing declined in March as employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 41,528 jobs during the month, down 18 percent from 50,702 job cuts announced in February.
The report on March job-cut announcements released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. revealed that March job cuts were down 39 percent from a year ago, when employers announced 67,611 job cuts.
Overall, employers have announced 130,749 job cuts through the first quarter, 28 percent fewer than the 181,183 planned layoffs announced in the same period of 2010. The three-month tally is, in fact, the lowest first-quarter total since 1995, when employers announced 97,716 job cuts from January through March.
Once again, the public sector dominated monthly job cuts, accounting for 19,099 or 46 percent of all March layoffs. The 19,099 planned job cuts announced by government and non-profit organizations increased 17 percent from 16,380 in February. It is the highest monthly total for this sector since March 2010, when it reached 50,604.
If there is any silver lining in the government layoff figures, it is that they are down significantly from a year ago. The March figure is 62 percent lower than a year earlier and the 41,929 job cuts in the sector through the first three months of the year is 33 percent lower than the 62,700 government layoffs announced in the first quarter of 2010.
“Despite the decline from last year, it is difficult to be optimistic about the outlook for government workers. Most cities and states have only just begun to address their massive budget deficits and we have yet to see how budget cutbacks are going to impact workers at the federal level,” said Rick Cobb, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
“The good news is that other areas of the economy appear to have stabilized in terms of downsizing activity. The sectors that had the heaviest job losses at this point a year ago have seen significantly fewer layoffs,” said Cobb.
Job cuts in the pharmaceutical industry have fallen 87 percent from 26,165 job cuts a year ago to 3,385 this year. Automotive job cuts, which totaled 7,728 at this point last year, are down 53 percent to 3,668. Job cuts in the telecommunications sector are down 69 percent from 14,795 to 4,552.
“The hope is that a few months of even slightly stronger hiring in the private sector will tip the scales toward accelerated job creation. Employers are watching the labor market closely and if it starts to look like the talent pool is getting shallower, then they could be compelled to increase the rate of hiring,” said Cobb.
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CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES | ||||
Year To Date | ||||
| 2011 | 2010 | ||
| Government/Non-Profit | 41,929 | 62,700 | |
| Retail | 15,768 | 20,368 | |
| Aerospace/Defense | 7,278 | 2,661 | |
| Financial | 7,207 | 3,517 | |
| Industrial Goods | 6,484 | 6,149 | |
| ||||
MONTH BY MONTH TOTALS | ||||
2011 | 2010 | |||
January | 38,519 | 71,482 | ||
February | 50,702 | 42,090 | ||
March | 41,528 | 67,611 | ||
April | | 38,326 | ||
May | | 38,810 | ||
June | | 39,358 | ||
July | | 41,676 | ||
August | | 34,768 | ||
September | | 37,151 | ||
October | | 37,986 | ||
November | | 48,711 | ||
December | | 32,004 | ||
TOTAL | 130,749 | 529,973 | ||
Some reductions are identified by employers as workers who will take early retirement offers or other special considerations to leave the company. | ||||
LAYOFF LOCATION | ||||
Year to Date | ||||
| California | | 22,104 | |
| Dist. of Columbia | 14,026 | ||
| Michigan | 9,640 | ||
| Illinois | 8,132 | ||
| Minnesota | | 6,223 | |
Listings are identified by the location of the layoff or corporate headquarters as stated in announcement. | ||||
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
JOB CUTS BY INDUSTRY
March | Year-To-Date | |
Government/Non-Profit | 19,099 | 41,929 |
Telecommunications | 2,378 | 4,552 |
Entertainment/Leisure | 1,695 | 3,595 |
Retail | 1,653 | 15,768 |
Legal | 1,581 | 2,204 |
Financial | 1,525 | 7,207 |
Industrial Goods | 1,410 | 6,484 |
Media | 1,369 | 2,452 |
Health Care/Products | 1,349 | 3,601 |
Food | 1,213 | 3,930 |
Services | 1,158 | 3,354 |
Aerospace/Defense | 992 | 7,278 |
Electronics | 982 | 2,202 |
Pharmaceutical | 960 | 3,385 |
Consumer Products | 950 | 4,571 |
Construction | 713 | 3,342 |
Apparel | 533 | 972 |
Automotive | 529 | 3,668 |
Computer | 370 | 1,887 |
Transportation | 336 | 2,547 |
Utility | 303 | 1,657 |
Chemical | 167 | 972 |
Real Estate | 158 | 1,062 |
Energy | 105 | 1,135 |
Insurance | | 1,089 |
| 41,528 | 130,843 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE
MARCH
East | 11,249 |
Dist. of Columbia | 8,080 |
New Jersey | 1,106 |
Maryland | 661 |
New York | 549 |
New Hampshire | 239 |
Massachusetts | 214 |
Pennsylvania | 212 |
Rhode Island | 91 |
Connecticut | 82 |
Maine | 15 |
Midwest | 5,761 |
Illinois | 2,010 |
Minnesota | 1,155 |
Missouri | 690 |
Michigan | 655 |
Indiana | 476 |
Ohio | 282 |
Iowa | 250 |
Wisconsin | 229 |
Kansas | 14 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE
MARCH
West /Southwest | 20,513 |
California | 14,954 |
Colorado | 1,822 |
Texas | 1,381 |
Nevada | 1,245 |
Oregon | 831 |
Hawaii | 200 |
Washington | 62 |
Oklahoma | 18 |
South | 4,005 |
Florida | 1,789 |
Alabama | 777 |
Tennessee | 465 |
Mississippi | 257 |
Kentucky | 189 |
Georgia | 168 |
Virginia | 159 |
North Carolina | 109 |
South Carolina | 65 |
Arkansas | 15 |
Louisiana | 12 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
JOB CUT REASONS
| MARCH | YEAR-TO-DATE |
Restructuring | 12,791 | 25,549 |
Cost-Cutting | 10,247 | 33,131 |
Closing | 5,753 | 23,145 |
Merger/Acquisition | 3,473 | 5,820 |
Economic Conditions | 3,203 | 10,028 |
Demand Downturn | 2,508 | 7,278 |
Voluntary Severance | 1,873 | 7,955 |
Outsourcing | 468 | 1,343 |
Bankruptcy | 380 | 8,115 |
Legal Trouble | 325 | 925 |
Government Regulation | 257 | 2,359 |
Loss of Contract | 250 | 250 |
Competition | | 150 |
Funding Loss | | 2,992 |
Order Cancellation/Reduction | | 1,057 |
Relocation | | 494 |
Reorganization/Consolidation | | 158 |
TOTAL | 41,528 | 130,749 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | TOTAL | |
1989 | 9,850 | 10,100 | 24,085 | 67,250 | 111,285 |
1990 | 107,052 | 87,686 | 49,104 | 72,205 | 316,047 |
1991 | 110,056 | 76,622 | 147,507 | 221,107 | 555,292 |
1992* | 110,815 | 85,486 | 151,849 | 151,850 | 500,000 |
1993 | 170,615 | 84,263 | 194,486 | 165,822 | 615,186 |
1994 | 192,572 | 107,421 | 117,706 | 98,370 | 516,069 |
1995 | 97,716 | 114,583 | 89,718 | 137,865 | 439,882 |
1996 | 168,695 | 101,818 | 91,784 | 114,850 | 477,147 |
1997 | 134,257 | 51,309 | 95,930 | 152,854 | 434,350 |
1998 | 139,140 | 131,303 | 161,013 | 246,339 | 677,795 |
1999 | 210,521 | 173,027 | 173,181 | 118,403 | 675,132 |
2000 | 141,853 | 81,568 | 168,875 | 221,664 | 613,960 |
2001 | 406,806 | 370,556 | 594,326 | 585,188 | 1,956,876 |
2002 | 478,905 | 292,393 | 269,090 | 426,435 | 1,466,823 |
2003 | 355,795 | 274,737 | 241,548 | 364,346 | 1,236,426 |
2004 | 262,840 | 209,895 | 251,585 | 315,415 | 1,039,735 |
2005 | 287,134 | 251,140 | 245,378 | 288,402 | 1,072,054 |
2006 | 255,878 | 180,580 | 202,771 | 200,593 | 839,822 |
2007 | 195,986 | 197,513 | 194,095 | 180,670 | 768,264 |
2008 | 200,656 | 275,292 | 287,142 | 460,903 | 1,223,993 |
2009 | 578,510 | 318,165 | 240,233 | 151,122 | 1,288,030 |
2010 | 181,183 | 116,494 | 113,595 | 118,701 | 529,973 |
2011 | 130,749 | | | | 130,749 |
AVG | 214,243 | 165,498 | 190,067 | 229,527 |
*Estimate based on half-year total. Challenger began tracking job-cut data in 1993. Before that, it was tabulated by an independent newsletter no longer published.
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
ANNOUNCED HIRING PLANS
MONTHLY TOTALS
2011 | 2010 | |
January | 29,492 | 31,381 |
February | 72,581 | 8,300 |
March | 10,869 | 13,994 |
April | 15,654 | |
May | 14,922 | |
June | 11,732 | |
July | 8,151 | |
August | 14,075 | |
September | 123,076 | |
October | 124,766 | |
November | 26,012 | |
December | 10,575 | |
TOTAL | 112,942 | 402,638 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
ANNOUNCED HIRING PLANS
MARCH
Industry | Jobs |
Transportation | 2,323 |
Financial | 1,640 |
Electronics | 1,050 |
Computer | 973 |
Industrial Goods | 890 |
Retail | 615 |
Aerospace/Defense | 554 |
Services | 540 |
Health Care/Products | 457 |
Automotive | 450 |
Entertainment/Leisure | 350 |
Insurance | 280 |
Media | 270 |
Consumer Products | 200 |
Telecommunication | 177 |
Food | 100 |
TOTAL | 10,869 |
Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
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Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
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