AI has been linked to more than 54,000 layoffs this year
Companies have cut over one million jobs this year, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported.
Employers announced 71,321 layoffs in November. The number is lower than October’s big spike, but it still pushed total cuts for 2025 to 1.17 million, 54% higher than last year and the highest since the pandemic in 2020.
Verizon added to the total by announcing more than 13,000 job cuts. Tech companies also continued reducing staff, cutting 12,377 jobs in November as AI changed how they operate.
AI has been linked to more than 54,000 layoffs this year, meanwhile, tariffs caused more than 2,000 cuts in November and nearly 8,000 so far this year.
Challenger reported that DOGE cuts accounted for roughly 300,000 layoffs.
Even with all these announcements, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims actually fell to 191,000, the lowest in more than three years. Hiring also slowed, with planned hires down 35% from last year.