Job Cuts in August Decline Month-Over-Month but Are Higher Year-Over-Year

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.’s (CG&C) Job Cuts Report released today (9-1-22), US-based employers announced 20.485 job cuts in August. This is a 21% decrease from the 25,810 job cuts announced and reported in July 2022. It is, however, 30% higher than cuts announced in August 2021. CG&C notes that August marks the fourth time this year that cuts were higher in 2022 than in in the corresponding month in 2021.

So far this year, employers announced plans to cut 179,506 jobs, down 27% from the 247,326 cuts announced in the first eight months of 2021. It is the lowest recorded January–August total since Challenger began tracking monthly job cut announcements in 1993.

The majority of cuts this year (41,948) were due to “cost-cutting,” while 32,705 were due to plant, unit, or store closings. Another 27,178 cuts were attributed to market conditions. This year, 10,465 cuts were due to employee’s refusal to take the vaccine, all of which occurred in the first quarter of the year.

Employers announced plans to hire 41,985 workers in August, up 65% from the 25,506 announced hiring plans in July. It is down 55% from the 94,004 announced in August 2021. So far this year, employers announced plans to hire 783,074 workers, an 18% increase from the 664,074 plans announced during the same period last year.