In October 2025, employers in the United States of America (USA) announced 1.53 lakh job cuts, a sharp ncrease of about 175 per cent compared to October 2024, reveals a new report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The report calls this largest number of cuts for any October in over 20 years.
This revelation comes as companies scramble to increasingly embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an investment, making the technology a part of their business functioning.
Thus, the the key drivers cited for the surge by the report are increased AI adoption and sweeping cost-cutting efforts across industries. According to Reuters, "DOGE Impact" was the biggest reasons for layoffs in 2025 overall.
From the start of the year through to the end of October, companies have announced 10.9 lakh layoffs, up roughly 65 per cent from the 6.64 lakh announced in the same period last year, and the highest ten-month total since 2020.
Not only did individual companies announce massive layoffs in October, but a greater number of companies announced job cuts, according to the report.
There were almost 450 individual job cuts planned in October compared to less than 400 in September.
Technology companies led the cuts, followed by retail and service sectors.
