Bail us out, Obi One Bernanke: You’re our only hope.
The always ready-to-report on the job market folks at Challenger, Gray and Christmas will have reports out next week (and the one after that) on the following two items. Here’s what their media alerts are telling us right now (as if we didn’t know the financial sector was in shambles and CEOs were moving on):
“FINANCIAL CUTS COULD SURPASS 2007 RECORDEmployers announced 88,736 job cuts in August, bringing the 2008 eight-month total to 667,996. Nearly one in six job cuts this year has come from the financial sector.CEO EXITS SURGE TO 144 IN AUGUSTAugust chief executive turnover surged 16.1 percent to 144 in August. So far this year, 992 CEOs have left their posts, 6.5 percent more than the 931 CEO departures recorded through August 2007. With an average of 124 CEO changes per month, the pace of CEO turnover is on track to surpass the 2006 record high of 1,478 departures.“
At least the numbers are backing up the news we hear about every flippin’ day.
A few areas that may see some IT job issues may be in the system integration and outsourcing areas. Brian Sommer of ZDNet has a post on the challenges ahead for those segments of the market. Sommers examines the cost structures of typical consulting and systems integrator jobs, as well as looks at a report about some of the players who service the financial markets. His advice for those overly exposed to that space: diversify your clients.