Dot-coms laid off 8,697 in July; consumer service sites lead the way

The carnage of dot-com jobs is easing, according to the latest Internet job-loss report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Dot-coms cut 8,697 jobs in July, the lowest figure since October 2000 when they cut 5,677, according to the report out today.

Dot-coms providing consumer services--e-retailers, as well as job recruiting, travel and other such sites--ranked as the top job cutters in July with 3,843 announced cuts. It was the first time since February that a dot-com business category other than technology had the most monthly cuts. Technology ranked second behind consumer services with 2,738 job cuts. Internet technology firms build and maintain the Net’s infrastructure, such as servers, networking devices, telecommunications services and equipment.

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July dot.com job cuts fell 6% from June’s 9,216, marking the third consecutive month of declines. However, the July job losses were four times as large as the 2,194 losses in July 2000, when the web site implosion was just beginning.

Since January, dot.coms have announced 82,896 job cuts, more than double the number of cuts announced in all of 2000 (41,214). Between January and July, 2000, only 7,264 job cuts were announced.

In January there were 12,828 job cuts from 122 firms, an average of 105 cuts per announcement. In July, only 55 firms made job-cut announcements but the ratio increased to 159 cuts per company.

“We are seeing job cuts spread out among fewer firms, which may result from the fact that many dot-coms have already gone out of business. Among those that are left we will probably see job cuts come in spurts -- cut some each month, hope for a turnaround and then cut more if the situation does not improve," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

By business category, the following cuts were announced in July: Consumer Services 3,843 Technology 2,738 Health 450 Media 445 Retail 438 Professional Services 410 Financial Services 145 Entertainment 100 Portal 78 Food 50 Internet-related job losses by month: December, 1999 301 January, 2000 303 February 130 March 25 April 327 May 2,660 June 1,652 July 2,194 August 4,193 September 4,805 October 5,677 November 8,789 December 10,459 January, 2001 12,828 February 11,649 March 9,533 April 17,554 May 13,419 June 9,216 July 8,697 TOTAL 124,411