PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island employers shed 153 jobs in March, according to business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The firm on Thursday reported U.S.-based employers announced 89,703 job cuts in March, up 15% from the 77,770 announced in February and a 31% increase from the 21,387 job cuts announced in March 2022.
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Rhode Island employers have cut 1,795 jobs so far this year since January. Numbers from specific industries were not provided in the report.
On March 23, Charcuterie Artisans laid off 49 of its 700 Rhode Island employees. The company at the time cited “the combined effects of our industry’s current market conditions and economic uncertainty on a national level.”
On Feb. 22, Honeywell International Inc. announced it is shutting down its Smithfield factory in November, with 122 workers set to lose their jobs. Layoffs there are set to begin April 22, with several more rounds of layoffs until the last employees are let go on the final day of operations in November.
On Jan. 26, Pawtucket-based toymaker Hasbro Inc. announced it was cutting about 1,000 jobs as part of moves announced last year to save up to $300 million annually by 2025. The company said the layoffs amount to 15% of its global full-time workforce, but it did not say where the job cuts would take place or if any would happen at its Rhode Island offices.
Across New England, Connecticut employers shed 2,556 jobs in March, the highest in New England. Massachusetts employers cut 753 jobs, New Hampshire employers cut 348 jobs, Maine cut 20 and Vermont reported no jobs lost.
Employers across the U.S. announced 270,416 cuts in the first quarter, a 396% increase from the 55,696 cuts announced in the same period one year prior. It is the highest first quarter total since 2020, when 346,683 cuts were announced January to March.
Technology and financial sectors led the first quarter layoffs nationally, according to the report. The technology sector alone cut 102,391 jobs so far this year, a staggering increase from 267 in the first quarter of 2022. Financial companies have shed 30,635 jobs this year, a 419% increase from the 5,903 cut in the first quarter of 2021.
