Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Outplacement services, provided by scores of firms, have become standard at most large companies, but in 1977 it was estimated that only 40% of major American companies offered outplacement. As early as 1977, Challenger, Gray & Christmas was recognized among the oldest and largest outplacement firms. The earliest major customers of Challenger, Gray & Christmas included Motorola Inc., McDonald's, United Airlines, Quaker Oats Company and Sears Roebuck & Company.[4]

In 1961, James Challenger was dismissed from his law firm position for taking time off. Though he found a new law job, the experience left him interested in the job search process and the responsibility of companies to take care of their separated workers. In 1966, his desire to help led him to found Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the first outplacement firm in the country.

He told the United Press International’s Leroy Pope in 1983: ''I discovered that nearly everything about job hunting was written by people engaged in hiring, people who were looking at the matter from the wrong end of the telescope,'' he said. ''They were interested in what employers wanted, not in what job hunters needed to do.''

He devised a training, counseling, and support program to help job seekers find new jobs quickly and successfully. He told UPI’s Cathy Lewandowski in 1983: “There is no such thing as total job security today. Any individual, no matter what position, should be ready to prepare a clearly defined alternative plan which can be implemented in case of termination.''

"Outplacement" by James Challenger, 1994.[5]

"The Challenger Guide: Job-Hunting Success for Mid-Career Professionals" by James Challenger, 2000.[6]

Since 1985, Challenger has held a 2-day annual Career Help Hotline, also called Call-In Days, during which members of the general public can call the firm and speak to expert job search coaches.[7][8] It is held after Christmas, typically the following two days directly after the holiday. The firm welcomes news stations and journalists into its HQ office to cover the event, giving access to coaches and the advice they provide. On average, this event has helped 500 callers a year.

• Coaches give advice on:
• Military to civilian job searches
• The job search for new college grads
• Retirement
• The job search for those over age 55
• Explaining a career gap
• Resume writing
• Interviewing
• Career advancement
• Transferring skills
• Switching industries
• Turning a temporary position into a permanent one
• Finding a job after incarceration

The hotline does not place callers with new employers, nor can its coaches review individual resumes or point callers to specific opportunities.

The firm's primary goal is to make the transition to reemployment easier for displaced workers[9] The company specializes in sponsoring business benefits and services in the following areas: 1) Communication Strategy & Timing, 2) Phase Out/Shut Down 3) Community Awareness 4) Employee Retention 5) Contingency Planning, 6) Security and 7) Public Agency Involvement.[10]

The media has covered the firm extensively since the late-1970s.[11] As the concept of lifetime employment started to come to an end in the 1980s and ‘90s, founder James Challenger was a critical voice in the national press on the responsibility of companies to help their former workers after a layoff. In 1993, Challenger founded the Challenger Layoff Report which publishes the number of job cuts announced by companies month-by-month.

Challenger's research on job cut announcements by US-based employers has been referenced all over the world and is used by leading economists on the labor market.[12][13][14][15] It is regarded as an economic indicator [16]

The firm also conducts research on chief executive officer turnover [17][18][19][20]

The firm conducts regular surveys and issues reports on the state of the economy, employment, job-seeking, layoffs and executive compensation. It conducts one-off surveys on such subjects as workplace bullying, lost productivity due to the Super Bowl, working women[21] and the impact of MeToo on the workplace [22]

The firm was cited by Fortune magazine in 2018 for its study on office romance in the age of Metoo. [23]

Other research includes the cost of the 2007 "March Madness" on the productivity of US businesses,[24] the flat rate of hiring seasonal workers[25] in 2011, declining rate of teen employment in 2012,[26] rising planned layoffs at the U.S. companies in 2013[27] One of the key developments of this firm is the awarding of a $5 million federal contract from the US Navy's Chief of Naval Installations Milling, Tennessee, for professional, scientific and technical services.

• Official Website