IWS Documented News DAILY POSTINGS

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 & Christmas, 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

After Three Consecutive Increases, Layoffs Plunge

jOB cUTS dROP 23% IN AUGUST TO 51,114

http://challengergray.com/press/press.aspx

CHICAGO, August 31, 2011 – United States-based employers announced plans to trim 51,114 workers from the payrolls in August, a 23-percent decline from July, when the number of job cuts hit a 16-month high of 66,414, according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. 

The August decline follows three consecutive increases in the monthly job-cut total that saw job cuts rise from 36,490 in April to the July peak.  The August total, however, was up 47 percent from a year ago, when employers announced just 34,768 job cuts during the month.

Employers have now announced 363,334 planned layoffs so far this year.  That is only 2.9 percent below a 2010 eight-month job-cut total of 374,121.  The gap between 2010 and 2011 year-to-date job cuts has steadily fallen over the last few months.  In March, year-to-date job cuts were 28 percent behind 2010.  By June, the difference dropped to 17 percent.  Now, less than three percent separates 2011 and 2010.

“July job cuts spiked as a result of a handful of surprisingly large job-cut announcements in the private sector.  It is too soon to tell whether those cuts were an anomoly, but they appeared to be driven by industry- and company-specific trends, as opposed to larger economic ones.  In August, the private sector once again took a backseat to the  government sector, which saw job cuts surge to the second highest monthly total this year,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

In August, government agencies announced plans to cut 18,426 workers from their payrolls.  That is nearly double the 9,389 job cuts announced in the sector in July and not far behind the largest government job-cut month of the year: March, when these employers announced 19,099 job cuts. 

The government sector has now announced 105,406 job cuts this year.  The next closest sector is retail, which has announced 40,173, including 5,901 in August.

“Unlike previous months, the government job-cut announcements in August were not dominated by state and local agencies.  Instead, the federal level led the way with heavy reductions among the civilian and officer ranks across three branches of the military.  More workforce reductions at the federal level are undoubtedly coming down the road.  Congress and the White House are under immense pressure to cut federal budgets and while the heaviest cuts are due in 2014, we will probably begin seeing some fallout starting this year and into 2012,” said Challenger.

“Furthermore, while state and local agencies saw fewer cuts in August, they are not exactly out of the woods in terms of the budget issues they face.  Many states are still struggling with high unemployment and falling home ownership, which are taking a huge bite out of tax revenues for states and their cities.  And most can expect fewer federal dollars that are needed to prop up their finances,” he said. 

“Meanwhile, the private sector is still being hampered by low consumer and business spending.  While we do not see any indication of a sudden resurgence in private-sector job cuts, conditions definitely are not ideal for hiring.  We expect hiring to remain slow through the end of the year and into 2012,” said Challenger.

“That is not to say there is no hiring.  Government surveys of employers show that they are hiring more than four million new workers per month.  It just so happens that employers are losing about four million workers each month to layoffs, terminations, retirements and other voluntary and involuntary departures.  As a result, the net change in employment is not very impressive, but it is important for job seekers to realize that there are opportunities and that they should not give up because of some negative economic reports,” he noted.

# # #

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

JOB CUTS BY INDUSTRY

*Through June, education and non-profit job cuts were included in the category Government/Non-Profit. In July, Challenger separated those categories. They will remain separate from this point forward. Historically, job cuts in those industries will remain tallied together.

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

JOB CUT REASONS

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

*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

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

ANNOUNCED HIRING PLANS

MONTHLY TOTALS

Copyright 2011 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
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) 262-6041               
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
****************************************