Layoffs 2025: Tech and government hardest hit as more than 1 million job losses announced so far this year

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The November layoff report will be released in a few hours.

12-02-2025
NEWS

Layoffs 2025: Tech and government hardest hit as more than 1 million job losses announced so far this year

Elon Musk’s DOGE and rounds of mass layoffs from tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft have led to staggering numbers of announced job cuts.

BY Michael Grothaus

More than 1 million workers in America have been laid off so far in 2025, according to the latest tally of announced job cuts from the executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The jobs span nearly every major industry, but layoffs have hit tech and government jobs the hardest. Here’s what you need to know, and which tech companies have had the largest round of layoffs in 2025.

2025 layoff announcements surpass 1 million
Nearly every week this year, there have been headlines about layoffs hitting America’s workers.

The latest report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas adds up layoff announcements from U.S. employers through the end of October. According to the report, 1,099,500 workers have lost their jobs due to layoffs.

{snip}

[jfz9580m]

1. Very unfortunate about the govt workers.nt

[progree]

2. Yeah, but it was a lot worse under Biden, WHEN NOBODY COULD AFFORD ANYTHING

July 2022-Oct 2025, released 11/6/25
https://www.challengergray.com/blog/october-challenger-report-153074-job-cuts-on-cost-cutting-ai/
"Layoffs hit highest level for the month since 2003: Hiring slows to lowest point in 14 years"

Ooops, no wait, I was looking at it in a mirror on my table while admiring my pretty face and slathering on my orange finger-paint, and looking at a reflection of the graph, which made it upside down. Never mind.

"Nobody could afford anything" -- https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220845979

[progree]

3. Job market mixed bag: Jobless claims drop to 3-year low, but employers shed 71,000 jobs in worst November since 2022

Yahoo Finance, 9:11 AM ET, 12/4/25
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/job-market-mixed-bag-jobless-claims-drop-to-3-year-low-but-employers-shed-71000-jobs-in-worst-november-since-2022-124809562.html

The US jobs market received a fresh set of mixed signals on Thursday, with claims for unemployment insurance dropping to a three-year low but employer layoff plans flashing another warning sign.

Employers announced 71,321 layoffs last month, according to a Thursday report from the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The cuts were up 24% from the nearly 58,000 planned layoffs announced in November 2024, and amounted to the highest total for the month since 2022.

Layoff announcements in October were at 153,074.

“Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008,” Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the report.

On the other labor market front, new data from the Department of Labor showed 191,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits were filed in the week ending Nov. 29, down from 218,000 the week prior to reach the lowest level since September 2022.

There's quite a lot more about the Challenger report, e.g. "So far this year, employers have announced 1,170,821 layoffs, up 54% from the first 11 months of 2024, "