The study, released Monday by Chicago-based global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., found that planned IT job cuts increased 74 percent in the third quarter to 50,957, up from 29,226 this past June 30, when the number of IT job cuts had dropped (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001787) to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2000.

The seven-page study, "Tech Spending Slowdown on the Horizon?" concludes that the third-quarter job cuts are attributable mostly to cost-cutting and restructuring, which accounted for 33,373, or 65 percent, of the cuts in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Overall for the year, corporate mergers have been cited for 29 percent of the tech job cuts through September, according to the study. Also affecting job cut levels are business competition, reduced sales and product demand, company closings and outsourcing.

"These numbers are a clear indication that tech companies see a slowdown on the horizon," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a statement. "The economy seems relatively stable now but corporate leaders have been less than optimistic about the outlook for 2007. For technology companies, this translates into lower business-to-business and consumer sales."

The Challenger study found that third-quarter job cuts by employers in the telecommunications, electronics, computer and e-commerce industries were 23 percent higher than the 41,439 cuts announced a year ago.

Most of the third-quarter job cuts occurred in the computer sector, the study said, with 30,511 cuts. That's more than the 30,342 announced in the first six months of this year.