August saw the highest monthly total of U.S. job layoffs in 15 years as year-to-date hiring dropped to the lowest in nearly 20 years, a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed.
Employers announced 75,891 layoffs last month — a stunning 193-percent surge compared to July, data from the career transition service published Thursday states. The difference between this August compared to August 2023 (75,151 layoffs) is less stark, but still enough to push last month to the highest number of job cuts since 2009, excluding the 115,762 announced in the first August of the coronavirus lockdowns.
“August’s surge in job cuts reflects growing economic uncertainty and shifting market dynamics,” the firm’s senior vice president, Andrew Challenger, said. “Companies are facing a variety of pressures, from rising operational costs to concerns about a potential economic slowdown, leading them to make tough decisions about workforce management.”
Challenger noted, “Cuts are following a very similar trend from last year as ongoing pressures have challenged labor decisions.”
The technology sector experienced “the most job cuts in 20 months,” with the industry announcing 39,563 layoffs for last month, bringing the year-to-date total to 105,426, according to the data.
Artificial intelligence (AI) was among the reasons cited by Challenger:
The Tech sector is moving from a growth and innovation focus into one of profitability and efficiency. AI and automation adoption is also driving job cuts at Tech companies across roles and functions. This talent, however, is still in high demand. Many of these professionals will land elsewhere, in and outside of the Tech industry. That said, we’re entering a period of slower hiring, so it may take longer than it has at any point in the last decade.
Other industries that have hemorrhaged workers this year include education, entertainment, industrial manufacturing, retail, and media/news as companies still struggle with “post-pandemic demand” and increased automation with AI as well, he said.
As for hiring, employers announced they were bringing on only 6,101 new people.
This figure is up by approximately 2,500 compared to July — but still a 23 percent decrease since August 2023.
“The year-to-date hiring announcements of nearly 80,000 is the lowest total in history going back to 2005,” noted CNBC’s Jeff Cox.
The outlet also stated that Challenger’s layoff data is “somewhat out of sync with government reports, which show that initial claims for unemployment benefits have been slightly elevated in recent weeks but not reflective of a major escalation.”
“The labor market overall is softening,” Challenger said.
