Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (3546)	10/10/2002 8:54:44 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

U.S. tech industry's job losses may be slowing-study Thursday October 10, 12:01 am ET SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The pace of job losses in the U.S. technology industry may be slowing after the brutal downturn for the sector put more than 400,000 out of work in the past two years, a report released on Thursday said. A total of 700 technology jobs were lost in June, the latest month for which data are available and the smallest decline in more than a year, according to the report by AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association, an industry group representing a range of U.S. tech companies. "The gut feeling among a lot of (tech) executives is that it's bottomed out. It's not going to be great, but the worst is over," William Archey, president and chief executive of AeA, told Reuters. "We're not going to make any projections because the situation is too unsettled to do that," Archey said. "All I can say is May and June give you some pause for cautious optimism." An industry-wide downturn forced tech employers to shed some 437,000 U.S. jobs between January 2001 and June, AeA said. Tech companies -- including software developers and makers of semiconductors, consumer electronics and computer and communications equipment -- were among the hottest companies in the mid- and late 1990s as companies invested heavily in PCs, software, corporate networks and devices and services of all kinds to raise productivity. But a sharp decline in demand amid recession and the slow recovery followed, prompting tech suppliers to slash payrolls. AeA estimated that high-tech companies employed 5.3 million U.S. workers in June, up from 4 million before the start of the tech boom in the mid-1990s but down from a peak of 5.7 million in March 2001. Well-known and big tech companies such as Cisco Systems Inc.(NasdaqNM:CSCO - News), Lucent Technologies Inc.(NYSE:LU - News) and Hewlett-Packard Co.(NYSE:HPQ - News) have been among those issuing pink slips during the decline. The steady stream of layoff notices from tech companies may soon slow to a trickle, other analysts agreed. "New tech orders are starting to correct. Compared with their peak, they're still way down, but we're seeing signs that tech orders are starting to recover," said Ross DeVol, director of regional studies at the Milken Institute. "It's fair to say the worst is behind us." Donald Straszheim, president of Straszheim Global Advisors and a former chief economist for Merrill Lynch & Co., said the pace of layoffs seemed to be slowing, but noted that a pick-up in hiring was still far off. "The economic outlook is weak and as long as it is I think companies will be cautious in two ways: One, they'll be hesitant to do any capital spending, and two, they'll be hesitant to hire. This hits the tech sector directly," Straszheim said. High-tech job cuts have been felt especially hard in Silicon Valley. Unemployment in Santa Clara County, the region's heart, was 7.6 percent in August, compared with 1.3 percent in December 2000, according to California's Employment Development Department. Reflecting the tech industry's weakened state, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index(NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) closed on Wednesday down 78 percent from its peak in March 2000.