Employment Services NAICS 5613

Aug 12, 2025 - Job Cuts in 2025 Already Surpass All of 2024

• Layoffs in the US job market spiked to their highest levels since the early days of the pandemic and have outpaced all job losses for the entirety of 2024 by 6%, according to outplacement company Challenger, Grey and Christmas. The firm reports about 806,000 layoffs so far in 2025, a 75% increase from the same time-period of the previous year. The federal government saw the biggest increase with 292,000 job cuts as a result of the work of the Department of Government Efficiency. Private sector job losses have been mostly driven by automation and AI integration in technology, accounting for 20,000 jobs. Other reasons cited by employers for the layoffs include economic uncertainty around tariffs, inflation, shifting demand, bankruptcies, and restructurings. Post-pandemic normalization from immediate overhiring after COVID are also contributing to employment decreases.
• Major corporations are getting smaller and managers have learned to not shy away from layoffs and other staff reductions, and in some cases actually tout them as positives, as AI adoption slims down corporate staff. Big companies have looked to startups and their ability to earn millions in revenue as inspiration for treating large staffs as an impediment rather than a benefit. Companies including Wells Fargo, Amazon, Union Pacific, Verizon, and Bank of America have cut thousands of jobs this year and report improved profitability. In addition to layoffs and displacement from AI, other means used to cut staff have included hiring freezes, combining jobs into new roles, or even leaving positions unfilled after employees resign. Management roles have taken the biggest hit in this new dynamic with middle managers increasingly being let go in favor of flatter organizations.

• Recent college graduates are having a difficult time finding a job and are seeing the highest level of unemployment in more than a decade (excluding the pandemic), according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data. Recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree had a 6.1% unemployment rate for the 12 months ending in May 2025, compared to the national rate of 4.2%. Those workers account for only 5% of the total workforce, but they play a larger role in pushing the national unemployment rate higher. As a result, graduates who find an entry-level position tend to stay in that job longer to avoid being stuck in a bad market. According to Oxford Economics, this is especially true among those in professional, scientific, and technical services, who often do not change industries when switching jobs. The data underscores a trend of Gen Z looking more towards trade schools than college.
• US workers are putting in extra hours in the evening after their workday has ended as companies cut costs, slow new hiring, and ask existing employees to do more. According to data from Microsoft on the millions of workers who use its business applications, over the course of the last year meeting log-ins after 8 p.m. grew 16% and a third of workers returned to their inboxes after 10 p.m. Workers cite days filled with so many meetings, emails, and actual work that they don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done. Microsoft’s data showed the average worker gets 117 emails and 153 chats a day, and 30% of meetings cross time zones, all contributing to playing catch up after hours. The workloads have taken a toll with employee mentions of burnout on job site Glassdoor up 32% year over year in Q1, the highest level in 10 years.