According to a recent report, 2025 is the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009.
How to survive layoffs and protect your finances
As more Americans lose their jobs, these tips will help you protect your finances, secure health insurance, and find your next job faster.
From technology to Hollywood to retailers to utilities, U.S. companies are ramping up layoffs and layoffs starting in 2024 as they focus on cutting costs and leaner operations in a tough economic environment.
Employers cut more than 150,000 jobs in October, the largest wave of layoffs in more than 20 years, according to a Nov. 6 report in Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Companies point to a myriad of reasons for layoffs, from AI to tariffs to corporate restructuring.
Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement: “Some industries are correcting course after the pandemic-induced hiring boom, as the adoption of AI, softening consumer and business spending, and rising costs are driving tightening and hiring freezes.”
The outplacement agency says 2025 is the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009, Challenger said, adding: “Those currently laid off are finding it harder to secure new jobs quickly.”
U.S. employers added 119,000 jobs in September, but the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3% in August, its highest level in nearly four years, according to the jobs report released Nov. 20.
Here are some companies that have recently announced layoffs.
Amazon
Amazon announced on October 28th that it is cutting thousands of corporate jobs, confirming reports that began circulating on October 27th.
A memo posted on the company’s website and signed by Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, says Amazon aims to reduce “approximately 14,000 roles across its internal workforce.”
Amazon had approximately 1.5 million full-time and part-time employees as of December 2024, according to its annual report. The company has approximately 350,000 employees.
conocophilips
In early September, U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips informed employees that it would cut “20 to 25 percent” of its global workforce as part of a broader restructuring.
Dennis Nass, director of media relations for ConocoPhillips, told USA TODAY at the time that the job cuts were part of “looking at how we can efficiently utilize the resources that we have,” and that the majority of the job cuts would occur in 2025.
The drop in oil prices has led to layoffs across the industry, with BP confirming it would cut 5% of its workforce in January, Chevron reporting 20% job cuts in February, and oil services company SLB also announcing job cuts in the same month.
general motors
General Motors announced in October that it would cut U.S. electric vehicle and battery production, cutting 1,200 factory jobs at its EV plant in Detroit and 550 jobs at its battery plant in Ohio.
It added that it will suspend battery cell production at its two joint venture battery factories in the United States in Tennessee and Ohio for about six months starting in January, and will lay off about 1,550 employees.
The auto industry has seen a decline in demand for electric vehicles since the $7,500 federal tax credit was repealed in September.
paramount
Media giant Paramount has laid off employees on several occasions prior to and since its acquisition by tech mogul Larry Ellison.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ellison announced 1,600 job cuts during a conference call with investors on Nov. 10. These job cuts are on top of 1,000 job cuts announced in October, the paper said.
Financial disclosures in November showed about 600 people left the company due to the mandate to return to the office, and CNBC reported that the company cut 3.5% of its workforce in June before the merger with Paramount and Ellison’s Skydance.
target
Target said it plans to cut an estimated 1,800 corporate jobs to make up for the retailer’s weak sales. Target CEO Michael Fidelke announced the layoffs in a memo to Target employees at the company’s headquarters in Minneapolis, CNBC and CNN reported.
According to CNN, the layoffs are Target’s first major layoffs in 10 years.
The layoffs are a combination of about 1,000 employee layoffs and about 800 unfilled positions, representing about an 8% reduction in Target’s corporate workforce, according to CNBC. Despite the company’s layoffs, Target confirmed that its stores and retailers’ roles in the supply chain were not affected.
UPS
UPS reported in its financial disclosure that it cut its workforce by 48,000 people this year.
The delivery giant said in its Oct. 28 8-K filing that it has cut about 34,000 operational jobs, including drivers, and an additional 14,000 from management positions under a consolidation and cost-cutting plan.
UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes said on an earnings call that the reductions included voluntarily acquired full-time drivers, 90% of whom left the company as of Aug. 31.
verizon
Verizon will lay off more than 13,000 employees companywide, CEO Dan Schulman told employees on Thursday, Nov. 20.
In an internal memo previously obtained by USA TODAY, Schulman informed employees on Nov. 20 that more than 13,000 employees would be laid off due to “limitations in our cost structure.”
Verizon spokesman Kevin Israel told USA TODAY that the layoffs will affect about 70,000 employees, or about 20% of the company’s non-union management team. Israel added that the job cuts were not targeted at any particular area of the company.
Schulman said in the memo that Verizon has established a $20 million reskilling and career transition fund for those affected by the layoffs. Schramm said the fund will focus on “skills development, digital training and job placement to help employees take the next step.”
Contributors: Greta Cross, Rachel Barber, Jessica Gunn, Melina Kahn, Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY. Reuters
