Tech Sector Endured Record Losses in First Quarter
April 14, 2009
Patricia Marroquin--HispanicBusiness.com
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The high-tech industry was hit hard in the first quarter of 2009, announcing job cuts totaling 84,217 employees, according to a new report by outsourcing company Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
The job losses represent a 27 percent increase over the previous quarter and the largest cut documented by Challenger Gray since 2002. By comparison, 17,345 tech industry jobs were lost in the first quarter of 2008.
The cuts in the sector, which includes electronics, telecommunications and computer companies, have increased in each of the last five quarters, reported Chicago-based Challenger Gray.
John Challenger, the company's CEO, said in a statement: "Unfortunately, no industry appears to be immune in this recession. Even the health care sector, which has consistently added jobs throughout the downturn, is starting to see those gains shrink."
Moves in other industries, he said, affect the tech sector. "Continued job creation in the federal government is being offset by large-scale losses at the state and local level, due largely to a rapidly deteriorating tax base. Of course, when all these sectors make cutbacks, it inevitably impacts the technology sector."
Challenger said mergers in this climate are a possibility, as tech firms "attempt to gain an economic and competitive foothold in this downturn. ... In most of these mergers, the first step taken to offset the cost of the merger is to eliminate redundant positions."
Despite the large losses, Challenger Gray doesn't expect things to get as bad as they did during the 2001 and 2002 dot-com bust, when technology companies announced job cuts averaging more than 145,000 in each quarter.
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2009. All rights reserved.
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