John Challenger Corporate Quotations

The pattern of job cutting that we saw in the third quarter mirrors what we have been seeing almost daily in the various economic and corporate earnings reports, which is to say one report suggests the economy is headed toward recovery while the next seems to hint that we are stuck in recession,

The heavy year-end downsizing does not necessarily indicate a sudden weakening of the economy, ... The fact is, job cutting has become a permanent part of the corporate cost-management mix, as demonstrated by the fact that a strong financial sector still found nearly 100,000 jobs to eliminate.

The biggest factor pushing tech job cuts to a five-quarter high was a surge in corporate combinations in the telecom sector, which resulted in over 3,000 job cuts in February.

While voracious consumer spending has helped maintain overall economic strength, companies are still hampered by stiff pricing competition from abroad, ... The inability to raise prices has cut into corporate profits, which, in turn, has most certainly contributed to increased job cutting.

Job-cut announcements have been on a roller coaster ride this year. The lack of any discernible trend in corporate downsizing is indicative of the uncertainty associated with the current economy.