CEOs Abandon Ship: Record 159 Chief Exec Exits In August As Overall Layoffs Surge
by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 09/12/2019
Reports by Challenger, a global outplacement and business firm, shows record CEO churn and growing corporate layoffs.
Overall Layoffs a Growing Concern
The August Challenger report says 53,480 Announced Cuts Led by Tech, Trade Issues a Growing Concern
U.S.-based employers ramped up the pace of downsizing in August, as companies announced plans to cut 53,480 jobs from their payrolls. This is up 37.7% from July’s total of 38,845, according to the latest report on job cuts released Thursday from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
August’s total is the fourth highest for job cuts this year, and marks the eighth consecutive time job cuts were higher than the corresponding month one year earlier. Last month’s total was the highest August total since 2009, when 76,456 cuts were recorded.
The August total is 39% higher than the 38,472 cuts announced in August 2018. So far this year, employers have announced plans to cut 423,312 jobs from their payrolls, up 36.2% from the 310,773 cuts in the first eight months of 2018. It is the highest eight-month total since 2015, when 434,554 cuts were announced.
“Employers are beginning to feel the effects of the trade war and imposed tariffs by the U.S. and China. In fact, trade difficulties were cited as the reason for over 10,000 job cuts in August,” said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
“We are continuing to see investor concerns shaking confidence in the market, and employers appear to be cutting workers in response to a slowdown in demand for their products and services,” he added.
Retail continues to lead all sectors in 2019 with 57,226 cuts, 2,059 of which occurred last month. That is 28% fewer cuts than the 79,478 announced in the same period last year. The Automotive sector has announced 36,148 cuts so far this year, the highest eight-month total since 2009, when 128,906 jobs were cut.
While job cuts are up in every region, companies located in the Southern United States have seen the largest jump in job cut announcements, as employers in this region have announced 53% more job cuts than through the same period last year: 90,337 compared to 58,964 in 2018. Companies in the Eastern United States had the second-largest percentage increase, with 46.6%, as employers in this region announced 119,689 cuts in 2019 compared to 81,616 last year
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