by TonyLiberty
The number of S&P 500 companies discussing layoffs has increased in April, reaching the highest level in two years:
It shows that the number of companies mentioning layoffs in their earnings reports has increased dramatically since 2006. In 2009, the year of the financial crisis, there was a huge spike in the number of companies mentioning layoffs, with nearly 1,000% growth compared to the previous year. The trend has continued upwards in recent years, although at a slower pace. This could be due to many factors such as automation and globalization leading to fewer jobs overall, or it could simply be that more companies are being honest about their layoff plans in order to avoid negative publicity. Either way, it is clear that layoffs are becoming increasingly common across all industries