Job cuts announced by U.S. technology firms declined significantly in the second quarter, possibly signaling a turnaround for an industry that has been impacted heavily by the recession.
Planned layoffs announced by employers in the computer, electronics and telecommunications industries totaled 33,891 in the three months ended June 30. That was down 60 percent from the first quarter when tech-sector job cuts reached 84,217, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2002.
The latest report on technology-sector job cuts released today by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. revealed that the second-quarter figure was nearly equal to the 33,644 job cuts announced during the same period a year ago.
Despite the second-quarter decline, tech-sector job cuts for the first half of the year reached 118,108, which is the largest six-month total in seven years. It was more than double the 50,989 cuts announced between January and June in 2008.
The computer industry led tech-sector job cuts in the second quarter with 19,881 announced layoffs, 37 percent fewer than the 31,580 cuts in the first quarter. The biggest declines in job cuts were enjoyed by employers in the electronics and telecom industries, where planned layoffs dropped 64 percent and 90 percent, respectively.
Planned job cuts announced by employers in the electronics industry fell from 33,665 in the first quarter to 12,134. Telecom firms announced only 1,876 job cuts in the second quarter, down from 18,972 in the first three months of 2009.
“Telecom and electronics firms appear to be benefitting from a recession-defying wireless market. Between the companies trying to outdo the iPhone and those helping more and more Americans disconnect their land lines for cellular-only phone communications, there are a lot of growth opportunities,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
