Job cuts rose 319% YoY in March, highest Q1 since 2020

By Senad Karaahmetovic 

U.S. employers nearly 90,000 job cuts in March, which is up about 15% compared to February, according to the report published by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The also represent a 319% increase from the 21,387 job cuts announced for the same period a year ago. The rise in announced job cuts also marks the third consecutive month-over-month increase.

“We know companies are approaching 2023 with caution, though the economy is still creating jobs. With rate hikes continuing and companies’ reigning in costs, the large-scale layoffs we are seeing will likely continue,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Overall, over 270,000 job cuts were announced in the first quarter, which is a 396% increase from the year-ago period. It also marks the highest Q1 total since 2020.

As expected, the biggest job cuts were announced in the Tech sector, which made up 38% of all cuts. Financial companies are second-ranked with 30,635 cuts.

“The only years during which Tech announced more job cuts than the current year are in 2001, when 168,395 cuts were announced, and 2002, when 131,294 Tech cuts were recorded,” it is said in the report.

167,575 job cuts were associated with “market/economic conditions” while another 24,285 were attributed to “cost-cutting” actions. 22,109 were connected to “store, unit, or department closings.”