Layoffs widespread across job sectors as the holidays approach

Lenovo and Cisco announced layoffs in December come amid changes in the tech sector, as explained by UNC chief economist Gerald Cohen.

"I think the tech sector is feeling the pressure of slower growth in terms of its revenues and declining equity prices," Cohen said. "So not surprisingly, they're rethinking some of their growth strategies. And as a result, impacting layoffs in that sector ... pulling back on new hiring."

Although Lenovo didn't state how many job cuts they'll make, a spokesperson for Lenovo North America released the following statement:

"Like all businesses, we regularly review our cost structure to align with external market dynamics and we are currently rebalancing some resources towards our growth engines to further drive the transformation of Lenovo's business."

Cisco said it announced a "rebalancing of investments," including a limited business restructuring impacting 5% of its workforce starting in December.

"This is not about cost savings - in fact, we'll have roughly the same number of employees at the end of this fiscal year as we had when we started, and we will do everything we can to help place affected employees in other open roles. We didn't take this decision lightly, and we will offer those impacted extensive support, including generous severance packages," a Cisco spokesperson said.

The tech sector may be in the spotlight, but it isn't the only one imposing job cuts.

In North Carolina, a "WARN Notice" is filed by companies planning to close a facility or conduct a mass personnel layoff.

The 2022 WARN Notice Report shows a majority of total WARN locations were in manufacturing, followed by professional and technical services and accommodation and food services and transportation and warehousing.

"Coming out of college, I got laid off from one of my jobs," Salisbury resident Christopher Clodfelter said. "It's just kind of been difficult coming out of college. You learn a little bit of techniques and you know things to do and say in job searches ... but it's just been kind of a struggle not having the experience they're looking for, or just not having certain qualities that the job market is looking for right now."

Clodfelter empathized with those experiencing layoffs around the holidays.

"For people who do have a lot of family ... they are the providers for their family," Clodfelter said. "It's difficult getting laid off at the holidays. Everybody wants to have a good special Christmas, but you got to have money to do that. The financial crisis that we're going into ... everything's going up."

However, there's optimism at the NCWorks Career Center in Durham, which continues to help job seekers.

"Overall, we're seeing that employers are doing more hiring on the spot this time of year more than usual," veterans employment representative Paige Crafton said. "People aren't wanting to work from home as much. There are a lot of work-from-home jobs out there but I think that there seems to be a lot more this year than last year so hopefully, that's good for the economy."

NCWorks Career Center will host employers, including Walmart and Aramark, on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.