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Challenger Layoffs increase to 45,934 in January
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In all, retailers announced 22,491 planned layoffs in January, accounting for 49 percent of all job cuts recorded during the month. The January total is virtually unchanged from the previous January, when retailers announced 22,246 job cuts to start 2016.
“A January surge in retail hiring has become the standard. Most retailers ramp up hiring in the final three months of the year to handle the holiday rush. However, as consumers increasingly go online to shop, retailers are not only dismissing temporary seasonal workers, but also increasingly closing stores and laying off permanent staff,” said Challenger.
Meanwhile, the energy sector, which announced 20,103 job cuts in January 2016, reported just 1,853 planned layoffs to kick off 2017.
“Oil prices were already starting to rebound in the last half of 2016. Now, with an administration that is expected to be very friendly to the oil, gas, and mining industries, many are forecasting a swift and sustained turnaround for these firms in 2017. The fact that January job cuts in the sector were 91 percent lower than a year ago, certainly appears to support that outlook,” said Challenger.
January 2016 also experienced heavy layoffs in the computer industry, where employers announced plans to shed 11,003 job cuts. This year, however, job-cut plans announced by these firms totaled 2,211 in the first month of 2017. That represents an 80 percent decline.
“Job cuts will not be the leading story in the tech industry this year. It is more likely to be labor shortages, particularly if the new administration continues to tighten the boarders to immigrants, many of whom come to America to work at leading tech companies,” noted Challenger.
Posted: February 2, 2017 Thursday 07:30 AM