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U.S. companies announced 153,074 job cuts in October — the highest for any October since 2003, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That figure is nearly three times higher than a year ago and marks one of the sharpest single-month layoffs since the 2008 financial crisis, according to Entrepreneur.
The spike comes amid widespread cost-cutting and quick adoption of AI, which together accounted for more than half of all layoffs last month. Employers have now cut over 1.09 million jobs in 2025, up 65% compared to the same period last year.
The warehousing and technology sectors led the October cuts. Warehousing saw 48,000 job losses, driven largely by UPS, which announced tens of thousands of operational layoffs. In tech, companies including Amazon and Meta continued to trim staff, cutting around 14,000 and 600 positions, respectively.
According to Challenger’s analysis, companies are rebalancing after pandemic-era hiring sprees while facing slower consumer demand, rising costs, and structural shifts from automation.
“Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic,” said Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, noting that AI and tighter budgets are prompting “belt-tightening and hiring freezes.”
So far this year, cost-cutting has been the leading cause of layoffs, responsible for 50,437 job cuts in October alone, followed by 31,039 cuts linked to AI-related restructuring.
Despite the wave of layoffs, the labor market remains mixed. Payroll processor ADP reported the U.S. added 42,000 private-sector jobs in October, led by gains in trade, transportation, education, healthcare, and construction — sectors still showing resilience even as tech and logistics shed workers.
However, hiring overall remains sluggish. Employers announced an average of 48,800 new hires per month this year, the weakest pace since 2011 — a sign that companies are becoming more cautious about expansion as automation and efficiency take priority over headcount.
