The latest Challenger Report, released today, shows that the US economy saw January layoffs at their highest level since 2009.
U.S. employers reported 108,435 layoffs for the month, representing a 118% increase from the same period last year and a 205% rise compared to December 2025, when 35,553 job cuts were announced.
Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, stated in the report, “Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
According to the report, the Transportation sector saw the most job cuts in January, totaling 31,243, primarily due to UPS declaring it would eliminate 30,000 jobs following its separation from Amazon.
In January, the technology sector announced 22,291 job cuts. Most of these were from Amazon, which revealed 16,000 layoffs as part of its management restructuring.
“CEO Andy Jassy, like many CEOs recently, has said AI will cost jobs in the coming years, but this cut appears to be due more to over hiring and reducing layers than to the new technology,” said Challenger.
AI was cited for 7,624 job cuts in January, accounting for 7% of the month’s total.
“It’s difficult to say how big an impact AI is having on layoffs specifically. We know leaders are talking about AI, many companies want to implement it in operations, and the market appears to be rewarding companies that mention it,” said Challenger.
Planned hiring decreased by 13% since January 2025 and was 49% lower than in December.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
