Sunday, December 7, 2025

Layoff announcements top 1.1 million this year, the most since 2020 pandemic

            Consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas  reported Thursday that job cuts from U.S. employers moved further ahead of 1 million for the year in November. This is due to corporate restructuring, artificial intelligence and tariffs helping pare job rolls. More than 71,000 job cuts in November, pushing the layoffs for 2025 to 1.17 million which is the highest level since the pandemic. Verizon announced that more than 13,000 jobs have been slashed driven by innovations in AI and tariffs were cited as a driver of 2,000 cuts. This number is much better than the 153,000 cuts announced in October, which was the highest total for the month in 22 years.  


            This firm also stated that companies since the 2008 financial crisis have been trending away from layoffs at the end of the year which is to try and keep layoffs away from the holiday season. As well, private payroll from ADP shows employers cut 32,000 in November which is the decline in more than two and a half years. While AI is clearly accelerating at a pace that industries cannot keep up with it will be interesting to see how they redefine job stability and how these industries will adopt over time. 


https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/04/layoff-announcements-this-year-top-1point1-million-the-most-since-2020-when-pandemic-hit-challenger-says.html


3 comments:

Chinedu Melenu said...

I like how this article uses real data and current examples to show how AI, tariffs, and corporate restructuring are driving the highest number of layoffs since the pandemic. It also raises an important point about how quickly AI is changing the job market and what that means for future job stability.How can the U.S. help workers adapt as AI replaces jobs faster than industries can adjust?”

Carter Flynn said...

It is crazy but expected that job cuts continue to climb as companies adjust to AI, restructuring, and tariffs, with layoffs now topping 1.17 million this year.

Gabe O'Reilly said...

It is definitely discouraging for young people to see the state of the labor market and AIs effect on it. One way that we can leverage ourselves in the job market is by learning how to use AI in a business setting... companies especially small businesses will need young people with knowledge of AI to help their businesses keep up with competition.