Monthly layoffs in the United States hit a 22-year high in October, with companies reporting more than 153,000 planned job cuts, according to a recent report.
The report from research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that recent factors like “AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs” are driving companies to cut spending and stop hiring.
“This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008. Like in 2003, a disruptive technology is changing the landscape,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at CGC.
The sectors hit hardest by the layoffs include tech, retail and warehousing, accounting for hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. The report says that the “DOGE Impact” is also influencing employers. The report attributes tens of thousands of layoffs to the “loss of federal funding to private and non-profit entities.”
The job market in 2025 has been remarkably shaky, with US workers facing the most layoffs since the 2020 COVID pandemic. From January through the end of October, employers across the country announced 1.1 million layoffs. Prior to the report, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the American economy was nearing a “golden age” under the Trump administration, and said that 2026 “would be a great year.”
“Jobs are booming, inflation is falling,” Bessent wrote on X.
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The report also found that prospects for the job market through the end of the year are gloomy.
“It’s possible with rate cuts and a strong showing in November, companies may make a late-season push for employees,” it said, “but at this point, we do not expect a strong seasonal hiring environment in 2025.”
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