Announcement from American employers job cuts surged in January to its highest level since 2009, according to a new report.
Global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, an increase from the 49,795 cuts announced in the same month last year. Job cuts increased by 205% compared to December, when 35,553 layoffs were announced.
This month of January saw the most layoffs for the month since 2009, when 241,749 reductions were announced. This is also the highest monthly total since October 2025, when 153,074 layoffs took place.
“Typically we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. This means that most of these plans were made at the end of 2025, indicating that employers are not very optimistic about the outlook for 2026,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
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The increase in layoffs in January is due to job cuts announced at UPS and Amazon. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group)
The transport sector saw the highest number of job losses in the month of January with 31,243 announced, most of which came from the transport sector. logistics giant UPS announcing 30,000 discounts as part of shipping management reduction for Amazon.
Tech companies announced 22,291 job cuts in January, most of which came from Amazon, which announced 16,000 reductions as it reorganizes its management structure.
“[Amazon] CEO Andy Jassy”, like many CEOs recently, has said that AI will lead to job losses in the coming years, but this reduction appears to be due more to over-hiring and downsizing than to the new technology,” Challenger noted.
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UPS has announced 30,000 job cuts as it cuts its business with Amazon. (Kevin Carter)
Healthcare companies and healthcare product manufacturers announced 17,107 job cuts in January, the largest number for the sector since April 2020, when 19,453 cuts were recorded.
“Health care providers and hospital systems are struggling with inflation and high labor costs. Declining Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are also hitting hospital systems. These pressures are leading to job cuts, as well as other reductions, such as some wages and benefits,” Challenger said.
Chemical makers announced 4,701 reductions in January, primarily driven by an announcement by Dow amid a shift toward AI and automation.
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Amazon announced 16,000 layoffs as part of a restructuring. (Matthias Balk/photo alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The main reasons companies announced layoffs in January were loss of contracts, cited in relation to 30,784 layoffs, while market and economic conditions followed with 28,392 cuts.
Other reasons included restructuring (20,044 cuts), closures (12,738) and artificial intelligence (7,624).
Challenger noted that it is difficult to determine the impact of AI on layoffs. “We know that executives are talking about AI, many companies want to implement it in their operations, and the market seems to reward companies that talk about it. »
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The report also found that employers announced 5,306 hiring plans in January, the lowest total for the month since Challenger began tracking this indicator in 2009.
This figure is down from the 6,089 hiring plans announced in the same month last year, as well as the 10,496 announced in December.