John Challenger Cutting Quotations

October and November were the second- and third-heaviest months of the year for layoffs, ... We returned to the levels of job cutting we saw in 2001, which was the heaviest year we've ever tracked.

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 heavy job cutting we have seen over the past three years appears to be trending down, ... However, the job market seems to be in a state of limbo, where companies are eager to hold on to people they have, but many are reluctant to create any new jobs.

Several telecom deals have yet to be finalized, but once they are we can expect to see more fallout, especially since many of these deals were made with the sole purpose of cutting costs,

We now see more and more of these Old Economy-New Economy hybrids cutting their online staffs, ... Companies that were hoping, if not expecting to eventually shift the lion's share of their business to the Internet may be forced to consider entirely new strategies for both short term and long term.

Companies are much more nimble today. They're cutting costs, but then they grow in new areas, so layoffs continue at the same time as job growth.

Companies are much more nimble today, ... They're cutting costs, but then they grow in new areas, so layoffs continue at the same time as job growth.

Companies are looking at their staffing needs for the balance of 2001 and the numbers do not present a very positive picture. The most worrisome aspect of the job-cut numbers, in terms of serving as an economic barometer, is the fact that job cutting has been heaviest in both manufacturing and technology.

Companies, through their downsizing, continue to take the steam out of the wage inflation engine by cutting people when the pressure gets too high,

Continued job cutting as a result of a slowing economy and increased outsourcing could prompt a significant decline in job security and a subsequent reduction in consumer spending just as we head into the all-important holiday shopping season,