November job cuts down 13 percent from 2010
November job cuts down 13 percent from 2010
U.S.-based employers announced job cuts totaling 42,474 in November, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. That’s a drop of 13 percent from the same month a year ago.
November marks the second consecutive month of lower announced job cuts after they surged to a 28-month high of 115,730 in September. The November figure was down 0.7 percent from 42,759 in October.
November job cuts were once again dominated by government sector job-cut announcements, which totaled 18,508, or 44 percent of all job cuts announced during the month.
“Even if Congress finds a way to delay the automatic military spending cuts triggered by the failure of the deficit reduction supercommittee, there is still immense pressure to cut costs,” said John Challenger, the CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “The drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq are likely to result in further personnel reductions.”
According to Challenger, the other sector still at risk for heavy downsizing activity is the financial services industry. Financial firms announced just 1,681 job cuts in November, but that brought the year-to-date total for the sector to 56,191. That is up 162 percent from 21,430 financial cuts announced by this point a year ago.
“Job cuts in the financial sector are still well below the recession high of 260,110, which was the year-end total in 2008. However, even as other sectors begin to enjoy the fruits of the recovery, these firms remain on very thin ice,” Challenger said. “The ongoing threat from the European financial crisis looms large over Wall Street, while retail banks continue to struggle in the wake of the housing market collapse.”
U.S.-based employers announced job cuts totaling 42,474 in November, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. That’s a drop of 13 percent from the same month a year ago.
November marks the second consecutive month of lower announced job cuts after they surged to a 28-month high of 115,730 in September. The November figure was down 0.7 percent from 42,759 in October.
November job cuts were once again dominated by government sector job-cut announcements, which totaled 18,508, or 44 percent of all job cuts announced during the month.
“Even if Congress finds a way to delay the automatic military spending cuts triggered by the failure of the deficit reduction supercommittee, there is still immense pressure to cut costs,” said John Challenger, the CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “The drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq are likely to result in further personnel reductions.”
According to Challenger, the other sector still at risk for heavy downsizing activity is the financial services industry. Financial firms announced just 1,681 job cuts in November, but that brought the year-to-date total for the sector to 56,191. That is up 162 percent from 21,430 financial cuts announced by this point a year ago.
“Job cuts in the financial sector are still well below the recession high of 260,110, which was the year-end total in 2008. However, even as other sectors begin to enjoy the fruits of the recovery, these firms remain on very thin ice,” Challenger said. “The ongoing threat from the European financial crisis looms large over Wall Street, while retail banks continue to struggle in the wake of the housing market collapse.”
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