Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Report: Tech Layoffs At Highest Level In Three Years
You may not see it here in Southern California's high tech sector--which has been booming, due to a surge of startup and accelerator activity--but apparently, the technology sector has seen its highest level of layoffs in three years, according to a report today. Challenge Gray, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, said that there were a total of 51,529 job cuts by technology firms in the first half of 2012, a 260 percent increase from 14,308 cuts announced in the same period a year ago. Layoffs from such computer giants as Hewlett-Packard, which recently announced a layoff of 30,000 workers, boosted the total. The number of cuts is apparently the largest, midyear total since 2009. The numbers are a stark constrast from the job conditions in Southern California's high tech sector, where companies have been recently reporting continuing difficulty in attracting talent--particularly software and technical talent--for their recruiting efforts. Image courtesy Bigstock.com