from Challenger Gray and Christmas
U.S.-based employers announced 32,423 job cuts in the last month of the year, bringing the year-end total to 418,770. That is the lowest annual total since 1990*, when 316,047 cuts were recorded.
Said John Challenger, Chief Executive Officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The retail pivot that caused thousands of store closures and job cuts was not seen in any other industry this year.
While companies in the Pharmaceutical, Health Care, Construction, and Food industries did announce more job cuts than last year, it was nothing like the Energy cuts seen in the last two years or the Financial cuts seen during the recession.
The tight labor market, coupled with uncertainty surrounding health care and tax legislation, possibly kept employers from making any long-term staffing decisions this year. However, 2018 may see an increase in job cut announcements, as companies realign with consumer demand.
Employers announced 20.5 percent fewer cuts than the previous year, when 526,915 cuts were announced. Last month saw a 7.4 percent decrease from November’s total of 35,038 and a 3.6 percent decrease from the 33,627 cuts announced in the same month last year.
Retail’s restructuring led to 76,084 job cuts this year, a 28.2 percent increase from 2016 when 59,324 job cuts were announced. The move from brick-and-mortar to online shopping has caused over 7,400 store closures, according to Challenger tracking.
The Health Care sector announced 40,732 job cuts, 118 percent more than last year’s annual total for the industry of 18,725. The Services sector announced 36,174 cuts this year, nearly quadrupling the total from last year, which was 9,917.
Meanwhile, announced hiring plans are the highest on record, according to Challenger tracking. Employers announced plans to hire over 1,100,000 new hires, 27 percent more than the 868,702 announced last year. Concludes Challenger:
While we may see more job cuts in the first quarter of 2018, some companies have announced wage increases and bonuses for employees due to the passing of the tax bill.
AT&T, Comcast NBCUniversal, and Fifth Third Bancorp all announced $1,000 bonuses to their eligible employees. Meanwhile, Fifth Third Bank and Wells Fargo will increase their minimum wage to $15/hour. Boeing announced $300,000,000 in new investments.
Note: *Challenger began tracking job cuts in 1993. Prior years’ job cuts were calculated by a newsletter no longer in circulation.
CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.
JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT
TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES
Year To Date
2017
2016
Retail
76,084
59,324
Health Care/Products
40,732
18,725
Services
36,174
9,917
Industrial
34,179
33,435
Food
20,737
16,260
MONTH-BY-MONTH TOTALS
2017
2016
January
45,934
75,114
February
36,957
61,599
March
43,310
44,207
April
36,602
64,141
May
33,092
30,157
June
31,105
38,536
July
28,307
45,346
August
33,825
32,188
September
32,346
44,324
October
29,831
30,740
November
35,038
26,936
December
32,423
33,627
TOTAL
418,770
526,915
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
63,301
Texas
38,521
New York
27,481
Ohio
24,742
Massachusetts
23,242
JOB CUTS BY INDUSTRY
16-Dec
17-Nov
17-Dec
YTD 2016
YTD 2017
Percent Change
Aerospace/Defense
2,286
849
214
14,153
14,825
4.7%
Apparel
200
1,039
0
-100.0%
Automotive
4,705
1,101
129
19,283
17,521
-9.1%
Chemical
1,920
66
13,107
903
-93.1%
Commodities
9
70
339
3,033
941
-69.0%
Computer
633
2,694
749
66,821
19,417
-70.9%
Construction
133
207
163
1,431
8,822
516.5%
Consumer Products
362
3,053
818
10,397
16,803
61.6%
Education
65
829
2,456
19,545
14,721
-24.7%
Electronics
70
88
12
9,078
4,868
-46.4%
Energy
2,673
1,001
787
107,714
16,631
-84.6%
Entertainment/Leisure
1,200
628
339
18,262
11,645
-36.2%
Financial
598
2,179
664
22,015
16,119
-26.8%
Food
2,929
2,210
759
16,260
20,737
27.5%
Government
3,498
962
260
18,653
9,236
-50.5%
Health Care/Products
1,695
7,011
2,587
18,725
40,732
117.5%
Industrial Goods
1,779
2,623
14,193
33,435
34,179
2.2%
Insurance
1,300
397
1,190
4,371
8,970
105.2%
Legal
193
106
588
454.7%
Media
104
449
197
7,792
4,062
-47.9%
Non-Profit
185
122
83
2,210
1,719
-22.2%
Pharmaceutical
959
433
744
9,940
13,998
40.8%
Real Estate
20
722
552
-23.5%
Retail
1,355
2,065
1,419
59,324
76,084
28.3%
Services
333
3,920
3,338
9,917
36,174
264.8%
Telecommunications
1,197
300
832
20,118
14,223
-29.3%
Transportation
3,439
1,249
131
18,420
12,258
-33.5%
Utility
339
1,044
2,042
95.6%
TOTAL
33,627
35,038
32,423
526,915
418,770
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