U.S. companies have laid off more than 1.1 million workers so far in 2025, according to new data reported by Fox Business.
That’s the highest number of job cuts in a year since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread layoffs in 2020.
The numbers come from a new report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
It shows that employers announced 71,321 layoffs in November alone. While that’s a 53% drop from the 153,074 job cuts announced in October, the November figure is still 24% higher than the same month last year.
Year-to-Date Layoffs Surge 54%
Through the first 11 months of 2025, companies have announced 1,170,821 job cuts. That’s up 54% from the 761,358 layoffs announced during the same period in 2024.
“Layoff plans fell last month. Certainly a positive sign,” said Andy Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008.”
Challenger’s data shows that 2025 is only the sixth year since 1993 that job cuts from January through November have topped 1.1 million. Other high-layoff years include 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2020.
The firm also noted that it used to be common for companies to announce job cuts toward the end of the year to match their fiscal calendars.
But that trend became unpopular after the Great Recession.
“Best practice dictated layoff plans would occur at times other than the holidays,” Challenger said.
Which Sectors Are Cutting the Most?
The telecommunications industry led all sectors in November layoffs. It announced 15,139 job cuts, largely due to plans at Verizon.
That’s the highest monthly total in that industry since April 2020. So far in 2025, telecom companies have cut 38,035 jobs, a 268% jump from last year.
The tech industry continues to see major job losses as well. Tech firms announced 12,377 layoffs in November, bringing their total for the year to 153,536. That’s a 17% increase from the same period in 2024.
Food companies, especially in the beef industry, also made cuts. They announced 6,708 layoffs last month. For the year, that total stands at 34,165, up 26% year-over-year.
Service-sector employers announced 5,509 cuts in November. Their year-to-date total is 69,089, which is 64% higher than last year.
Retailers also trimmed their payrolls. The sector announced 3,290 cuts last month and has cut 91,954 jobs so far in 2025. That marks a 139% increase from 2024.
The Bigger Picture
Even though job cuts in November were down sharply from October, the overall picture remains troubling.
November marked the eighth time this year that layoffs in a given month were higher than the same month in the previous year.
Historically, layoffs in November were below 70,000 from 1993 until 2000, except during recession years like 2001 and 2008. Challenger’s data shows that high November job cut totals are now once again becoming more common.
The only year with more job cuts than 2025 was 2020, when more than 2.2 million layoffs were announced through November.
Layoffs this high raise big concerns about where the economy is going. Some of these job cuts are specific to certain companies, but the fact that so many industries are affected suggests broader worries about slowing growth, rising costs, and uncertainty heading into 2026.
Despite all the buzz around innovation and new technology, Challenger’s report highlights a more grounded reality: a lot of people are still losing their jobs.