Job cuts in the United States surged to a more than two-year high in January after a wave of tech companies implemented mass layoffs, a report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. on Thursday showed. Tech companies alone accounted for 41,829 layoffs last month.
102,943 workers lost their jobs in January, more than twice the number of job losses reported in December. Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, and Goldman Sachs Inc were among those companies that engaged in thousands of layoffs, particularly in response to downward demand trends amid high inflation and rising interest rates.
We’re now on the other side of the hiring frenzy of the pandemic years,” Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. commented. “Companies are preparing for an economic slowdown, cutting [the] workforce and slowing hiring.”
Retailers made the largest layoffs in January after tech companies, cutting 13,000 jobs, while financial firms followed closely behind by cutting 10,603 jobs.
With the Federal Reserve expected to continue its interest rate hikes in the near future albeit at a lower rate, U.S. economists remain convinced that more layoffs could be in store.