A New Wave of Massive Layoffs Now Hits Arizona

June 11, 2024

A new wave of massive layoffs now hits Arizona as businesses pile up to warn employees of upcoming job cuts in the state.

It’s important to note that under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, an employer with more than 100 full-time workers must provide 60 days’ notice before laying off 50 or more people at a single site.

A report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas has revealed that the number of layoffs in Arizona during the first five months of 2024 has hit a total of 5,197.

Andrew Challenger, the firm’s vice president, offered insights into the driving forces behind these job cuts.

“Employers across the board are citing vague reasons for cutting jobs, but we know artificial intelligence and the disruption that follows is the cause, at least in part, for many companies’ plans.

The disruption is impossible to refute.

That said, other economic factors are also at play in many of these announcements,” he stated.

Below are the notices filed with the Arizona Department of Economic Security advising of job cuts since May 1, 2024.

Northrop Grumman has advised that 543 employees in Chandler will be laid off.
Evernorth Care Group is laying off 261 staff in Scottsdale
TuSimple is laying off staff in Tucson
Kalil Bottling Company is laying off 546 staff in Tucson
All of us Research Program is laying off 45 staff in Phoenix
Obvio Health is laying off 51 staff
Walmart is laying off 74 staff in Phoenix
Savers are laying off 42 staff in Phoenix
Devine Holdings is laying off staff in Mohave Valley

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Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.

First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.

Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.

That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.

US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.

Still, hiring remains strong. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% last month, it’s the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.

Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”

“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.

The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.

While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”

Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note Thursday: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”

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Also Read: A Giant Company Now Announces Unexpected Layoffs in Virginia

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