CEO: Change Employment Often

Sure, rank-and-file employees took it on the chin in 2008, with the economy destroying almost two million jobs from August to December alone.

But the folks at the top had it rough, too: Companies announced the departures of almost 1,500 chief executives last year, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

That's an average of more than five CEOs for each working day. Indeed, it's the highest total Challenger Gray has recorded since it began tallying up corporate press releases about job cuts almost a decade ago. The 2008 total of 1,484 CEO defenestrations was a 9.4 percent jump over 2007.

Perhaps most worrisome for the corporate-suite set, the pace of chief-executive departures was accelerating in December.

Challenger Gray said the credit collapse was explicitly cited as the reason for 27 chief executive departures in 2008. Bankruptcies claimed nine CEOs this year. Another 41 were simply fired.

The largest single reason for turnover at the top was generic "resignation," though Challenger notes that pressure from the board or stakeholders was "undoubtedly" behind some of those apparently voluntary departures, "even if the announcements did not say so," the firm said.

"With the economic turmoil expected to continue well into 2009, the pace of CEO departures will likely follow suit," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger Gray.

Many of those departures may be attributed to retirement, as baby boomers push into their 60s in greater numbers, Challenger noted. But, he added, "we could also see more departures resulting from bankruptcies and firings."

by Mark Stein