Planned Job Cuts Jump 96.5% from 1995

The number of planned job cuts announced by major U.S. businesses in April was nearly twice as large as the April 1995 total, an employment survey showed Tuesday.

Many of the planned job cuts were in banking, telecommunications and computers, according to the survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago employment firm.

Announced job reductions totaled 30,810 last month, up 96.5% from 15,678 in April 1995, the Challenger survey showed.

For the first four months of the year, announced cuts totaled 199,505, an increase of 75.9% from the first four months of last year, when announced layoffs totaled 113,394.

While the Challenger report showed a large increase from a year earlier, the number of job cuts announced in April represented a 17.8% decline from March’s total of 37,486.

Many companies continue to eliminate jobs for a variety of reasons, ranging from mergers to cuts in military spending.

The largest announced reduction in April, the loss of 7,200 jobs, stemmed from Wells Fargo & Co.’s acquisition of First Interstate Bancorp, Challenger said.

“As banks streamline their post-merger operations, executive as well as middle-management and teller layoffs can be expected,” said James Challenger, president of the employment firm. “An increasing emphasis on automation, including banking by ATM machine, phone and computer, will also cause many more cuts. Some reports expect bank staff levels to be cut by 50% in the next decade.”

More recently, defense contractor Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Co. announced plans to dismiss as many as 1,500 workers--or 13% of its work force. And the acquisition of insurer Paul Revere Corp. by Provident Cos. is likely to result in the loss of several hundred jobs, Provident Chairman J. Harold Chandler said. Additionally, Aetna Life & Casualty recently announced plans to fire 975 of its 11,000 workers in Connecticut.

On May 3, Labor Department figures showed the U.S. economy added just 2,000 jobs in April, amid losses in the construction and manufacturing industries. Analysts had expected an April job gain in excess of 100,000.