Private Sector Job Cuts Decline in December

According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. (CG&C) Job Cuts Report released Thursday (1-4-24), US-based employers announced 34,817 job cuts in December. This is a 24% decline from the 45,510 cuts announced in November and the second-lowest monthly total in 2023, after 23,697 cuts announced in July 2023. It is also 20% lower than the 43,651 cuts announced in December 2022.

In 2023Q4, companies announced plans to cut 117,163 jobs, CG&C reported. That figure is down 20% from the 146,305 cuts announced in Q3 and down 24% from the 154,329 cuts announced in 2022Q4.

CG&C notes that in 2023, companies planned 721,677 job cuts—an increase of 98% from the 363,824 cuts announced in all of 2022. The 2023 figure is the highest annual total since 2020, when 2,304,755 cuts were recorded. With the exception of 2020, 2023 is the highest total since 2009, when 1,288,030 cuts were announced.

In all of 2023, US employers announced plans to add 780,123 positions—down 47% from 1,482,364 in 2022. It is also the lowest number of announced hiring plans since 2015, when employers planned to hire 690,751 workers.

In December, 3,022 hiring plans were announced, the lowest monthly total since CG&C began tracking detailed hiring plans in 2009.