Dotcom job cuts on the increase - 01/2001

Job cuts by US Internet companies reached an all-time high in December, according to a new report.

Figures from the Challenger, Gray and Christmas report showed that 10,459 people lost their jobs in Internet companies in December, up 19 percent from November. This is the seventh straight month that Internet job cuts have increased from the previous month.

According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a total of 41,515 Internet jobs have been cut by 496 companies since December 1999.

It was only in the second half of 2000, as the fortunes of many dotcoms changed dramatically, that job losses really began to escalate. Between January and June there were 5,097 job losses. From July through to December, 36,177 jobs were cut.

The services sector, which includes jobs in consulting, financial services, and IT, was hardest hit, accounting for 47 percent of all dotcom job losses. Over 9,500 jobs were lost in the retail sector, followed by 3,069 in Internet portals and 3,007 in entertainment sites.

www.nua.ie