Layoffs by US companies in January and February reached the highest level since 2009, with the tech sector accounting for more than a third of more than 180,000 announced job cuts, a report showed on Thursday.
In February alone, layoffs in the United States reached 77,770, more than five times the 15,245 job cuts announced the previous year, according to the report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
“Right now, most of the cuts are in technology. (Sectors of) retail and finance are also cutting now as consumer spending matches economic conditions,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of the company.
Tech companies including Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc and PayPal Holdings have laid off thousands of employees this year in an effort to rein in spending and protect margins amid an uncertain economic outlook.
“The layoffs that many of these companies are announcing are welcome to investors, sort of sizing the cost structure right, rationalizing growth is paying off in the market,” said James Tierney, chief investment officer at asset management firm Alliance Bernstein. .
Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc and Meta Platforms Inc. have risen between 6% and 54% so far this year, after falling between 29% and 64% in 2022.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday reaffirmed his message of higher and potentially faster rate hikes, which could force companies to cut more jobs.
US companies announced plans to hire 28,830 workers in February, down 87% from 215,127 a year earlier, the report added.
Source: CNN Brasil
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