-- Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday that companies planned to cut 83,387 jobs in April, up from 60,620 in March but below the 105,441 level at the same time a year earlier.
The largest layoff count in April was in the technology sector, which accounted for 33,361 of those intentions, with increased use of artificial intelligence with the most cited reason for layoffs.
"Technology companies continue to announce large-scale cuts and are leading all industries in layoff announcements," said Andrew Challenger, the company's chief revenue officer. "They are also often citing AI spend and innovation. Regardless of whether individual jobs are being replaced by AI, the money for those roles is."
There were 10,049 hiring plans announced in April, down from the 32,826 hiring plans in March and from 16,191 a year ago.