Layoffs Surge to Highest Total Since April 2009

CHICAGO, October 5, 2011 – Employers announced plans to shed 115,730 workers from their payrolls in September, making it the worst job-cut month in over two years. Heavy reductions planned by the military accounted for a large portion of September job cuts, signaling what may lie ahead as the federal government seeks across-the-board cuts in spending.

September job cuts were 126 percent higher than the 51,114 announced in August, according to the latest report on monthly job cuts released Wednesday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. They were 212 percent higher than September 2010, when employers announced just 37,151 job cuts. Last month’s total is the highest since April 2009, when 132,590 job cuts were announced.

Is the Slide Skidding to a Halt?

New data suggest that the economy’s long-term slide may finally be showing signs of coming to a halt. Specifically, the pace of layoffs tapered considerably in September. The latest report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. on downsizing activity reveals that planned job cuts announced by employers last month fell to 34,768, the lowest monthly total in over a decade and a 17 percent decrease from the 41,676 cuts announced in July. August’s number, in fact, broke a three-month-long spate of increases in layoffs.

Job Market Persists in Exhibiting Signs of Split Personality Disorder

For several months, the job market has exhibited various characteristics seemingly at odds with each other. Data from July continues this trend. Concurrently, however, job cuts continue apace: Employers announced plans to shed 41,676 workers in July, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which released its latest report on planned job cuts on Aug. 4. The 6 percent increase in layoffs, compared to the 39,358 layoffs in June, also mirrors others’ findings over many months’ time.

HR’s Missing Link

Why Human Capital Supply Chains are critical for post-recession success.

During the recession of 2008/2009, websites like Forbes’ Layoff Tracker displayed
a running list of companies that laid off hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of workers. Certainly, if CEOs had a more fluid method to relate slowing business performance to a decreased need for human capital in real-time they would have been able to gradually ramp down their staffing levels rather than decrease them so abruptly and publically.

Jobs Rated Report 2010: The Nation’s Ten Best Jobs

Layoffs, bankruptcies and rising unemployment – the past 12 months have been an especially traumatic time in recruiting. Yet when considering the best and worst jobs for 2010, the upheaval that spread across multiple industries last year hasn’t altered the old adage: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” For the second year in a row, job hunters will want to brush up their math, science and computer skills if they want to land a top-ranked, highly rewarding position.

Voluntary Quit Rates Tell a Different Story

Mass layoffs and high unemployment lead most executives to the logical conclusion that remaining employees feel lucky to have a job. But the data tell a different story.