Overall, job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers surged in March to 60,357, a 71 percent jump from the 35,369 job cuts announced by American employers in February, according to a monthly report by executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
So far this year, companies based in Ohio have announced 10,067 job cuts, according to Challenger. For the month of March alone, Ohio-based companies announced 884 cuts, according to the firm’s count, which was released Thursday.
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Challenger’s methodology attaches announced job cuts to a company’s headquarters. So if an Ohio-based company announces jobs cuts in the state of New York, for example, then those cuts are counted as Ohio job cuts, unless an affected location is somehow specified.
In Ohio, Battelle announced planned cuts of 350 workers in March. according to Challenger. Bobby Layman Chevrolet, a Columbus auto dealer, announced planned cuts of 103 workers, Challenger said. And CompuCon Systems in Fairfield is closing, cutting 61 jobs.
“We’ve experienced 22 months of relatively low planned layoff activity,” John Challenger, the firm’s chief executive, said in the report. “With the current economic conditions, companies are in a position to grow and invest. We’ve seen companies invest back into their workforces in the last couple of months.
“However, last month’s plans may indicate that growth could be slowing down, especially as the market continues to tighten,” Challenger also said.
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Nationwide, U.S.-based companies announced plans to hire a total of 14,525 people.
The hardest-hit sectors so far in 2018 include retail (56,526 announced cuts), health care and health care products (12,491), consumer products (11,778), services (10,564) and transportation (5,926).
AES last month announced it would lay off about 370 workers at two power plants in Aberdeen and Manchester, in Adams County, Ohio.
This will also result in the closure of a training center located in Manchester, according to a notice sent to state officials last month.
The company anticipates these facilities will close by June 1, but the layoff date could happen sooner. About 260 of the 370 workers are part of Utility Workers Union of America Local 175.
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