The U.S. job market was uneven throughout much of 2025, but by the end of the year, a clear pattern emerged. Layoffs are mounting, and the tech industry, including big companies like Amazon, is leading the way.
U.S. employers cut 71,321 jobs in November, according to outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas.
The November 2025 figure was a 24% increase from last year and was the highest month since 2022 when employers cut 76,835 jobs. November was the eighth month last year that Challenger’s data showed year-on-year growth.
Layoffs announced in December fell sharply before rising again in January. But this January turned out to be bloodier than Challenger, Grey’s and Christmas analysts expected. This indicator is very worrying for the U.S. economy in 2026.
Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, said: “Overall, we saw a significant number of layoffs in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. This means that the majority of plans were made towards the end of 2025, indicating that employers are less optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
Software company Salesforce began laying off thousands of jobs last year as its use of artificial intelligence increased. Earlier this month, the company quietly began laying off hundreds of employees.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff celebrated being able to reduce customer service headcount thanks to artificial intelligence. Photo credit: Anadolu on Getty Images ·Photo by Anadolu via Getty Images
Last summer, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff spoke out loud about what had been whispered: AI agents were taking jobs from human workers.
Not only are agents taking jobs, Benioff is excited about it.
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“It’s been the most exciting eight months of my career,” Benioff said on the podcast, according to Business Insider. “I was able to rebalance my headcount with my support. I reduced it from 9,000 to about 5,000 because I needed less headcount.”
If you don’t speak Silicon Valley executive lingo, Benioff is celebrating the fact that he was able to fire nearly half of his customer support department thanks to artificial intelligence agents.
Now Business Insider has learned that the layoffs didn’t stop last month, with the company quietly laying off hundreds more starting in February.
After noticing updates from several Salesforce employees on LinkedIn, Business Insider sources confirmed the widespread layoffs, which they said involved fewer than 1,000 positions. Affected roles include marketing, product management, data analytics and Salesforce’s Agentforce AI-generated artificial intelligence product.
Salesforce currently has 76,000 to 77,000 employees worldwide.
Market watchers hoping for some early employment momentum from the first month of the new year will have to look elsewhere, as U.S. employers more than doubled the number of layoffs in January compared to last year.
Employers announced 108,435 job cuts last month, an increase of 118% from the fewer than 50,000 announced a year ago and a 205% increase from the 35,553 layoffs in December.
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While layoffs affected many industries, 70% of the layoffs came from just four industries.
transportation: The industry shed 31,243 jobs, most of them after UPS announced it would cut 30,000 jobs as it parted ways with Amazon.
technology: Tech companies announced 22,291 layoffs in January, much of it attributable to Amazon, which plans to cut 16,000 jobs. “CEO Andy Jassy, ​​like many CEOs recently, has said that artificial intelligence will reduce jobs in the coming years, but the cuts appear to be more due to over-hiring and reducing layers than new technology,” Challenger said. Pinterest also announced it would lay off hundreds of employees later this month.
health care: The health care industry reported 17,107 job cuts in January, its worst month since April 2020, when 19,453 layoffs were announced. “Health care providers and hospital systems are grappling with inflation and high labor costs. Reduced Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are also taking a toll on hospital systems. These pressures have led to layoffs and other cuts such as partial pay and benefits,” Challenger said.
Chemical: Chemical makers reported more than 4,700 job cuts in January, with large layoffs announced by Dow Inc. accounting for the bulk of the total. This is the industry’s highest monthly total since February 2016.
January’s layoffs were the most severe since 2009, when 241,749 jobs were lost. It was also the worst monthly total since October 2025, when there was a cut of 153,074.
But layoffs are only half the story. The other half is hiring, where the U.S. economy is also struggling.
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This article was originally published by TheStreet on February 11, 2026, and first appeared in the Employment section. Click here to add TheStreet as your preferred source.
