From tech to Hollywood, retailers and utilities, U.S. companies are intensifying job cuts and workforce reductions that began in 2024, as they focus on cost savings and leaner operations amid a challenging economic environment.
Employers slashed more than 150,000 jobs in October, the largest wave of layoffs in more than 20 years, a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Nov. 6.
Firms have pointed to a myriad of causes for their layoffs, from AI to tariffs and corporate restructuring.
"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," Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.
2025 has been the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009, according to the outplacement firm, and Challenger added that "those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles."
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The jobs report released Nov. 20 showed U.S. employers added 119,000 jobs in September but that unemployment rate rose to the highest point in nearly four years, up from 4.3% in August to 4.4%
Here are some of the companies that have recently announced layoffs.
Amazon
Amazon said on Oct. 28 that it is cutting thousands of corporate jobs, confirming reports that began circulating on Oct. 27.
A memo, signed by Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, posted on its website said the tech giant is targeting "an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles."
As of December 2024, Amazon had about 1.5 million full- and part-time employees, according to its annual report. Its corporate workforce includes roughly 350,000 employees.
Amazon layoffs: 14,000 corporate jobs cut. What we know about them.
ConocoPhillips
U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips informed its employees in early September that it will reduce "20 to 25%" of its global workforce as part of a broad restructuring.
Dennis Nuss, ConocoPhillips' director of media relations, told USA TODAY at the time that the cuts are part of "looking at how we can be more efficient with the resources we have" and that the majority of the layoffs will take place in 2025.
Falling oil prices have led to layoffs across the sector, with BP confirming that it would reduce 5% of its staff in January, Chevron reporting a 20% cut in February, and oil service company SLB announcing cuts the same month.
ConocoPhillips layoffs: US oil giant will cut up to 25% of its global workforce
General Motors
General Motors said in October that it will cut U.S. electric vehicle and battery production and 1,200 factory jobs at its EV plant in Detroit along with 550 jobs at an Ohio battery plant.
It added that it will halt battery cell production at its two U.S. joint-venture battery plants − in Tennessee and Ohio − in January for about six months, temporarily laying off about 1,550 workers.
The auto industry is seeing less demand for electric vehicles after a $7,500 federal tax credit was eliminated in September.
Paramount
Media giant Paramount has laid off employees in multiple waves both ahead of and in the aftermath of the takeover by tech baron Larry Ellison.
Ellison announced a 1,600-person layoff in a Nov. 10 conference call with investors, according to the Los Angeles Times. Those cuts are on top of the 1,000 layoffs announced in October, according to the paper.
November financial disclosures show that about 600 people left the company after a return-to-office mandate, and CNBC reported that the company cut 3.5% of its workforce in June, before Paramount's merger with Ellison's Skydance.
Layoff impacts: Job cuts surge in worst October layoffs in 22 years.
Target
Target said it plans to cut an estimated 1,800 corporate jobs in an effort to offset the retailer's stagnant sales numbers. Target CEO Michael Fiddelke announced the layoffs in a memo to Target employees at the retailer's headquarters in Minneapolis, CNBC and CNN reported.
The cuts mark the first major round of layoffs in a decade for Target, according to CNN.
The cuts – a combination of about 1,000 employee layoffs and roughly 800 positions that won't be filled – represent about an 8% cut to Target's corporate workforce, according to the memo, per CNBC. Despite the corporate cuts, Target confirmed that none of the roles in stores or in the retailer's supply chain were impacted.
Target layoffs: Target to cut about 1,800 corporate jobs amid stagnant sales
UPS
UPS reported in financial disclosures that it has reduced its headcount this year by 48,000.
The delivery giant said in its 8-K filing Oct. 28 that it cut about 34,000 operational jobs, including drivers, under a consolidation and cost-saving plan, and another 14,000 positions from its management ranks.
Brian Dykes, UPS chief financial officer, said on the company's earnings call that the operational cuts included full-time drivers who took voluntary buyouts and that 90% of them left the company Aug. 31.
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Verizon
Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees across its company, CEO Dan Schulman told employees on Thursday, Nov. 20.
In an internal memo previously obtained by USA TODAY, Schulman informed employees on Nov. 20 that more than 13,000 employees will be laid off due to "cost structure limits."
The layoffs will impact roughly 20% of non-union management, a pool of approximately 70,000 employees, Verizon spokesperson Kevin Israel told USA TODAY. The cuts do not target a specific area of the company, Israel added.
In his memo, Schulman said Verizon has established a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for those affected by the layoffs. The fund, Schulam noted, will focus on "skill development, digital training and job placement to help our people take their next steps."
Verizon job cuts: Telecom company laying off more than 13,000 non-union employees, CEO says
Contributing: Greta Cross, Rachel Barber, Jessica Gyunn, Melina Kahn and Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY; Reuters
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