AI and Cost-Cutting Lead to 175% Yearly Jump in Layoffs

Artificial intelligence (AI) and cost-reduction caused American employers to cut 153,074 jobs last month.

That’s a 175% jump from October of 2024 and 183% higher than the 54,064 cuts announced in September of this year, per a Thursday (Nov. 6) report by outplacement and executive coaching company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“October’s pace of job cutting was much higher than average for the month,” Andy Challenger, workplace expert and the company’s chief revenue officer, said in a news release.

“Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes. Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.”

The report also notes that October’s total is the highest for that month since October of 2023, which saw a surge of layoffs in the retail space because of acquisitions, and in telecommunications as cell phones became more popular.

“Like in 2003, a disruptive technology is changing the landscape,” said Challenger. “Over the last decade, companies have shied away from announcing layoffs in the fourth quarter, so it’s surprising to see so many in October.”

He added the onset of social media has allowed workers to share their negative work experience, meaning the trend of announcing layoffs before the holidays faded away, “a practice that seemed particularly cruel.”

Among the companies cutting jobs last month was Amazon, which said it planned to eliminate up to 30,000 corporate roles.

The report comes one day after the announcement of planned Senate legislation that would require major companies and federal agencies to report artificial intelligence-related layoffs, hires, job displacements, retraining and other impacts to the Labor Department.

The bill would also require the DOL to compile data on AI-related job effects and publish a report to Congress and the public, according to a press release issued Wednesday (Nov. 5) by the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Mark Warner, D-Va.

Meanwhile, research from the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Generation AI: Why Gen Z Bets Big and Boomers Hold Back” found that among people who use generative AI, 33% are worried that the technology might threaten people’s jobs.

That concern is most pronounced among Generation Z, with 38% of the gen AI users in that age bracket worried about the impact on employment. The report said Gen Z users tend to have — or are looking for — the types of entry-level jobs that the technology can most easily replace.