Benefits March 29, 2001

Dot.com Job Losses Drop For Second Month

March 29, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Dot.com job losses declined for the second month in a row, raising hopes that layoffs in the sector may be bottoming out.
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Just 9,533 Internet jobs disappeared last month, an 18% drop from February’s total according to outplacement specialist Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

On the other hand, a year ago just 25 dot.com jobs were lost, according to Chicago-based Challenger.

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Challenger noted that while the absolute number of jobs lost may continue to decline, much of that may be the result of a decline in the total number of dot.com positions.  More ominously, the report indicated that 22% of the firms that cut employees in March did so as they went out of business, compared with just 14% of those firms in January.

Over the past 16 months 75,525 dot.com jobs have been wiped out, with nearly half (34,010) of those in the first three months of 2001.

Among the various sectors:

  • Internet technology firms announced 4,516 losses, up from 2,721 in February
  • dot.com professional services category lost 1,637 jobs in March.
  • e-tail job cuts dropped to 1,384, down from 2,874 in February.


 

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