Healthcare announced the third-most job cuts out of 30 industries and sectors measured in the first quarter of 2023, according to one new analysis.
The finding comes from an April 6 report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive coaching firm that examines job cuts by U.S.-based employers.
Healthcare, which includes hospitals and healthcare products manufacturers, has announced 22,950 cuts in the first three months of 2023. That's a 65 percent increase from the 13,923 cuts announced in the first quarter of 2022.
All U.S.-based employers tracked by Challenger, Gray & Christmas announced a combined 270,416 cuts in the first quarter of 2023, up 396 percent from the 55,696 cuts announced in the same period one year prior. It is the highest first-quarter total recorded by the firm since 2020.
"We know companies are approaching 2023 with caution, though the economy is still creating jobs," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the report. "With rate hikes continuing and companies' [reining] in costs, the large-scale layoffs we are seeing will likely continue."