Published December 1, 2022
U.S.-based employers announced 76,835 cuts in November, a 127% increase from the 33,843 cuts announced in October. It is 417% higher than the 14,875 cuts announced in the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
November marks the seventh time this year that cuts were higher in 2022 than in the corresponding month a year earlier.
So far this year, employers announced plans to cut 320,173 jobs, a 6% increase from the 302,918 cuts announced in the first eleven months of 2021. With November’s total, job cuts in 2022 have surpassed cuts announced in 2021 for the first time this year. The year-to-date total is the second lowest on record, since the firm began tracking job cuts in 1993, with the lowest occurring during the same period last year.
Tech Sector Cuts One Quarter of Jobs This Year
The Technology sector announced 52,771 cuts in November, for a total of 80,978 this year. This is the highest monthly total for the sector since the firm began keeping detailed industry data in 2000. It is the highest YTD total for the sector since 2002, when 128,563 Tech-sector cuts were recorded through November and 131,294 for the year. This year’s tech cuts are 535% higher than the 12,761 cuts announced through the same period in 2021.
Historical Data
With the exception of 2020—when Entertainment/Leisure, Retail, and Transportation companies all announced many tens of thousands of cuts per month—the last time any industry cut this many workers in a single month was in July 2015, when the Government sector cut 57,531, mostly on the announcement that the United States Army would cut more than 40,000 troops over the following three years.
Auto
The Automotive sector announced the second-most job cuts this year with 30,669, up 198% from the 10,277 cuts in the industry during the same period in 2021.
Housing Downturn Causing Job Cuts
As housing demand falls and costs rise, the Real Estate industry has cut 7,919 cuts this year, up 187% from the 2,762 announced during the same period last year. The Financial sector has announced 17,571 cuts so far this year, up 105% from the 8,568 announced through November 2021.
Meanwhile, cuts in the Financial Technology (Fintech) sector have increased 1,272% from 592 through November 2021, to 8,125 during the same period this year.
“The Tech sector has announced the most job cuts this year by far. While other industries are cutting jobs at a slower pace, hiring appears to have slowed as well,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Hiring Plans
In November, employers announced plans to hire 30,203 workers, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,430,671, down 14% from the 1,662,433 hiring plans employers announced in the same period last year.
# # #
Contact Colleen Madden Blumenfeld for more data or to set up an interview with SVP Andy Challenger.
Job cuts rise in November, causing employees to shift focus to ‘career cushioning’
by Stephanie Dhue
Published on DEC 1 2022
The rate of job cut announcements at U.S. employers in November was more than five times greater than a year ago, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Overall, U.S.-based firms announced 76,835 job cuts in November, led by the technology sector. So far this year, tech companies have announced nearly 81,000 cuts. While the numbers seem staggering, the total number of layoffs year to date is the second lowest on record, since the firm began tracking jobs cuts in 1993. The lowest level was last year. “When we’re looking at layoffs across the board, while we have seen an uptick from the historic low layoffs we’ve been in at the last two years, we’re not seeing huge mass layoff activity,” said Challenger, Gray & Christmas senior vice president Andrew Challenger.
MEDIA BIZ HOLDS UP AMID BROADER SURGE IN LAYOFFS
By Heidi Chung
Published on Dec 1 2022
What to expect from Friday’s jobs report
Published on December 1, 2022
In November, there were 52,771 job cuts announced by technology firms, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data released Thursday morning. That represents the highest monthly total for the sector since 2000, when the outplacement firm started tracking industry-specific reductions. However, the total cuts so far this year are the second-lowest level since 1993, when the firm started tracking layoff announcements.
Download Full Challenger Report with Data Tables
