Private Sector Added 163,000 More Jobs in June

Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 163,000 from June to July, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The estimated gain from May to June was revised down slightly, from the initial estimate of 176,000 to 172,000. Public sector layoffs — particularly at the state and local level — have been the primary drag on the employment numbers for months. These public sector numbers won’t be known until Friday’s report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue Reading

Despite 30,000 Job Cuts by HP, Still Shortage of Professionals in Digital and Tech

Good Economic News: Manufacturers Resist Layoffs Despite Sluggish Sales

Job Cuts Up 11.2% Largely Due to Government, Education Layoffs

The pace of downsizing remained virtually unchanged in April, as U.S.-based employers announced planned job cuts totaling 40,559 during the month. That is a 7.1 percent increase from 37,880 job cuts announced in March, according to the latest job-cut report released Thursday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

April job cuts were up 11.2 percent from the same month a year ago, when employers announced 36,490 planned cuts, the lowest monthly total recorded in 2011. Continue Reading

Planned Layoffs Virtually Unchanged in February

The number of planned layoffs remained virtually unchanged in February, as U.S. employers announced workforce reductions totaling 51,728 during the month, down slightly (3.3 percent) from the 53,486 layoffs recorded in January, according to the latest job-cut report released Thursday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Last month’s total was up 2.0 percent from a year ago, when employers announced 50,702 job cuts in February. Overall, the pace of downsizing is up 18 percent over last year, with 105,214 job cuts announced through the first two months, compared to 89,221 during the same period in 2011.

What may stand out most about 2012 job cuts so far is not the number of layoffs, but the source. Last year, job cuts in the first two months were dominated by the government sector; a trend that would continue throughout 2011. Through the first two months of 2012, job cuts have been concentrated in consumer products and transportation.

Consumer products firms lead all others in job cuts, having announced 16,320 this year, up 351 percent from the 3,621 announced at this point a year ago. The second-ranked transportation sector has seen job cuts increase 616 percent from 2,211 a year ago to 15,835 in 2012. Together, these two sectors account for 32,155 job cuts or 30.6 percent of the year-to-date total. Continue Reading

Looking for a New Job? Small Firms Hire More After Recessions.

The conventional wisdom has been that small organizations create most of the jobs in this country yet there’s been little reliable data to substantiate that. Until now.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released a comprehensive study showing that since 1990, firms with 500 or more employees have accounted for more than 40 percent of total private employment and that the percentage of private employment accounted for by each size class has remained quite stable over time. Yet during post-recession times like we’re currently in, job seekers should look first to small organizations with one to 49 employees as they have led larger firms at cyclical turning points. In other words, small organizations hire more coming out of a recession but also lay off more going into a recession. Continue Reading

Job Cuts in January 2012 Up 39% Versus January 2011

Last month, the nation’s employers announced plans to cut 53,486 jobs from their payrolls. That was the largest monthly layoff total since 115,730 job cuts were announced last September, according to job cut report released Thursday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The January total was 28 percent higher than the 41,785 job cuts announced in December. It was 39 percent higher than January 2011, when employers announced just 38,519 planned cuts. Continue Reading

Job Cuts in Tech-Sector Lowest In 15 Years

Despite a surge in tech-sector downsizing in the second half of 2011, the number of job cuts announced by these firms last year plunged to the lowest level ever recorded in tracking going back to 1997, according to the latest report on technology sector job cuts released Monday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Technology firms, including those in the computer, electronics and telecommunications industries, announced a total of 37,038 planned job cuts in 2011, down 21 percent from 46,825 in 2010. The year-end total was down 79 percent from the recent peak of 174,629 recorded in 2009, when the recession was at its worst. Continue Reading

23% of Employers Plan to Add Employees in 2012; Only 7% Plan Layoffs

Employers expect to add new jobs in the New Year, but are waiting to see how the economy shapes up before turning up the volume on hiring, according to CareerBuilder’s annual job forecast. Nearly one-in-four hiring managers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2012, similar to 2011. Employment trends among small businesses, which account for the majority of job creation in the U.S., are expected to show some improvement over last year. The nationwide survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive from November 9 to December 5, 2011, included more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

Matt Ferguson of Careerbuilder

Limited Shelf life – Is Your Job About to Expire?

“My son is now an “entrepreneur.” That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.” – Ted Turner

Have you ever watched someone’s job unravel and they don’t even know they are in trouble? I just watched this happen to someone that works in my company. This particular person started off okay, with good annual reviews. Then his boss left and in a matter of a year or so, he went from having an okay reputation to someone who was viewed as “on his way out”. I’m not sure if his old boss was covering for him or maybe his new boss just did not like him. The really sad part was that he had no clue that every day the front door was one step closer. Not that there was some type of official notice about this guy, you just got the feeling watching from a distance. Long story short, he was shown the front door yesterday. The guy was shocked (as most anyone would be if they had no clue – take a look at “I lost my job, now what?“) and, of course, not prepared. So what are the warning signs? How do you know if you are about to lose your job? I would argue that in most cases (except for down-sizing), the clues are there if you look close enough. What can you do? Continue Reading