Employers Continued to Cut Jobs in Q3 2020

According to the monthly report released today (10/1) from Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc., a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, job cuts announced by U.S. based employers jumped to 118,804 in September, up 2.6% from August’s total of 115,762.  The September total is 186% higher than the 41,557 job cuts announced in September of 2019. Last month’s job cuts bring the yearly total so far to 2,082,262, up 348% from the 464,869 cuts at this time last year. The current year-to-date total already surpasses the record highest annual total – 1,956,876 cuts announced in 2001 – by 125,386 cuts. The third quarter of 2020 saw 497,215 job cuts, down 59.8% from the 1,238,364 cuts announced in the second quarter. It is 271% higher than the 133,882 cuts announced in the third quarter of last year. Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said in a statement prepared for the press release that “These are uncertain times for everyone, as many states are experiencing an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases. It is clear we still have a long way to go before many industries can return to normal.”