Job cuts so far this year have already surpassed the total for 2024, as government cost-cutting, economic uncertainty and AI have prompted employers to reduce staff.
California and the tech industry have been particularly hard hit, according to a Thursday report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a company that helps people pivot to new careers and monitors job cut announcements by U.S. companies.
In the eight months through August, companies announced about 892,000 cuts. That’s 66% more than a year earlier and already above the total for 2024. The last time the cut tally was higher was in the middle of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.
The Trump administration’s initiative to slash government spending — through what it calls the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE — was the biggest culprit for the slashing of government jobs, while economic concerns and technological change weighed on sectors including tech, finance and retail.
“After the impact of DOGE on the Federal Government, employers are citing economic and market factors as the driver of layoffs,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president and labor expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a statement.
California was the state with the most cuts, surpassed only by Washington, D.C. The technology industry had the most cuts in California, followed by services, media, healthcare and retail.
California’s cuts this year increased by 24% to 135,241. Washington saw a tripling of cuts to 294,696. Job cuts rose 33% in New York but fell in some states, including Texas and Nevada.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which offers outplacement services and executive coaching, gathers data from news reports, company filings, annual reports, news releases and layoff notices. It tracks job cuts by company headquarters unless the announcement includes the location of the layoffs.
The report is the latest glimpse into the brutal job market facing workers as layoffs continue in various industries, including healthcare and tech. In August, pharmaceutical companies, financial firms, nonprofits and retailers saw huge bumps in job cuts.
“Retailers are being hard hit by tariffs, inflation, and ongoing economic uncertainty, causing bankruptcies and closures,” said Challenger. “If tariffs and consumer spending constraints play out, the approaching holiday shopping season may see fewer seasonal hires and, in fact, high layoffs.”
Last month, retailers such as Kroger announced massive job cuts and Claire’s, which sells accessories in shopping malls, filed for bankruptcy.
Employers planned to add 1,494 jobs in August, the lowest level Challenger, Gray & Christmas has seen since 2009 when the firm started monitoring those numbers.
Meanwhile, the rise of artificial intelligence chatbots that can generate text and code has heightened anxiety among workers that their jobs could eventually be automated.
This year, artificial intelligence was cited as the reason for 10,375 job cuts, the report said. Technological updates, which possibly include AI, contributed to 20,219 job cuts.
Tech companies announced 102,239 job cuts this year, down 3% from last year, according to the report.
Intel, Microsoft, Meta and Salesforce are among tech companies that have slashed their workforce this year while also investing heavily in AI.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor also released new data that showed applications for unemployment insurance are on the rise. In the week ending Aug. 30, initial claims jumped by 8,000 to 237,000, the highest level since June.
