Layoffs Surge to Highest Level in October Since 2003 in US, Hiring Lowest in 14 Years; Technology, Retail, Services, Media and Other Sectors Cut Nearly 1 Million Jobs: Report

New York, November 8: Layoffs in the United States have surged by 65% this year, affecting nearly one million employees. Reports indicate that October saw a significant rise in job cuts, tripling September’s figures to reach a total of 153,000. The surge in layoffs has pushed the country into an increasingly uncertain economic situation, sparking widespread concern among employees about job security.

According to the layoffs tracking website, Layoffs.Fyi, 1,13,623 employees lost their jobs in 2025 and 223 companies laid them off. As per a report released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, layoffs in the United States have hit the hardest since 2003 and hiring slowed to the lowest point in past 14 years. Amazon Layoffs Warning to India That GenAI Poses Real Risk to Future of White-Collar and Other Jobs Amid Global Impact: Report.

Layoffs in US Highest, Affecting 1,53,074 Jobs

As per the report published by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the US-based employers announced 153,074 job cuts in October 2025. This was 175% up from 55,598 cuts announced in 2024 and 183% higher than the September month with 54,064 job cuts.

The report mentioned that the mass layoffs in the United States are implemented due to AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending and also increasing costs. All of these have resulted in hiring freezes in the country, causing difficulties for those laid off to secure new jobs. Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that the slowed hiring could further loosen the labour market.

In October, employers announce layoffs of 1,099,500 employees, a 65% massive increase from the 6,64,839 announced in the first 10 months of 2024. The numbers are 44% higher than all the job cuts announce in 2024 i.e. 7,61,358. The report further mentioned, "Year-to-date job cuts are at the highest level since 2020 when 2,304,755 cuts were announced through October."

Last noth, more companies announced job cut plans and Challenger said it tacked nearly 450 individual announcements compared to just under 400 in September. This marks the highest October total since 2003, when 1,71,874 cuts were recorded amid major Retail and Telecommunications layoffs driven by acquisitions and the rise of mobile phones. IBM Layoffs Coming Soon: Big Blue Likely To Cut Thousands of Jobs in 4th Quarter Amid Focusing on High-Margin Cloud Software Division; US Workforce To Be Affected.

List of Industries That Announced Most Layoffs in October 2025

• Technology sector remains among the top with restructuring due to AI adoption, slow demands and efficiency pressures. This sector announced 33,281 job cuts in October month.
• Retailers are have announced 2,431 job cuts in last month, down 2,577 compared to September .
• Services sector that provides business support such as outsourcing, staffing, clearning and others, laid off 1,990 employees in previous month.
• Warehousing announced highest 47,878 job cuts in October month, significantly higher compared to September with 984 cuts.
• Consumer products companies laid off 3,409 employees, higher compared to 1,983 in September.
• Non-profits announced plans to cut 27,651 jobs, a 419% surge compared to the previous year with 5,329 numbers.
• Media layoffs have affected around 16,680 employees so far in 2025, higher than the last year's 13,279 cuts.

News industry, a subset of Media industry, has laid off 2,075 employees so far this year. It includes all the digital news, print news, broadcast news and others. The report said, "News cuts are down 41% from the 3,520 cuts announced during the same period last year."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 08, 2025 11:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).