Benefits August 27, 2002

Dot.Com Layoffs Stay – Gasp! – Above 1,000

August 27, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Announced August layoffs from Dot.com firms were above the 1,000 mark for the second consecutive month, according to a report from an outplacement firm.

Reported by

Nevin E. Adams

Once viewed as an employment bellweather, the projected cuts pale in comparison to the numbers currently bandied about in other industries immersed in cost-cutting initiatives.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas said it tracked plans for 1,193 August job reductions — only 557 fewer than the 1,750 job cuts announced the previous month.

However, that was a vast improvement over last year’s tech sector bloodletting. Challenger said the August figure was 76% lower than the 4,899 dot.com job-cut August 2001 announcements.

Dot.coms have announced 10,550 job cuts thus far in 2002, which is well below the 2001 level. This year, dot.com job cuts are on pace to stay below 16,000.

The majority of the August dot.com job cuts were announced by firms offering consumer and business services as well as firms specializing in Internet-related technology. Together, services and technology firms announced 1,160 job cuts or 97% of the month¹s total.

Challenger has recorded 152,990 cuts since it began tracking dot.com job cuts in December 1999.