Technology sector cuts most jobs in January in US: Report

SAN FRANCISCO: Led by the technology sector, US-based employers announced 102,943 cuts in January, a massive 136 per cent increase from the 43,651 cuts announced in December, a new report has said.

It is 440 per cent higher than the 19,064 cuts announced in the same month in 2022, according to a report by global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The technology sector announced the most cuts with 41,829, 41 per cent of all cuts, announced in January. From Amazon to Meta, from Alphabet to Google, almost every big tech company laid off employees in thousands.

It is 158 per cent higher than the 16,193 cuts announced in December 2022, and 57,996 per cent higher than the 72 tracked in January 2022.

Since November 2022, which saw the highest monthly total for the sector since Challenger began tracking in 1993 with 52,771, technology companies have announced 110,793 job cuts. January's total is the second-highest for the sector on record, the findings showed.

"We're now on the other side of the hiring frenzy of the pandemic years," said Andrew Challenger, labor expert and Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

"Companies are preparing for an economic slowdown, cutting workers and slowing hiring," he added.

The media industry announced 754 cuts in January, the highest monthly total since 1,001 cuts were announced in June 2021.

Of those, 360 were in digital, print, and broadcast news organisations.

In January, US employers announced plans to hire 32,764 workers, primarily in entertainment/leisure. This is down 58 per cent from the 77,630 announced in January 2022 and down 37 per cent from the 51,693 new jobs employers announced in December of last year, said the report.