A prominent outplacement services firm says US employers have opened the year with a sharp jump in job cuts, further weakening an already soft labor market.
In its latest report, Challenger, Gray & Christmas says US-based companies announced 108,435 job cuts in January, a 118% increase from the same month last year and a 205% jump from December.
The figure marks the highest January total since 2009, during the depths of the financial crisis, and the largest monthly figure since October 2025.
Says the firm’s chief revenue officer, Andy Challenger,
“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less than optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
Transportation companies announced the most layoffs in January, totaling 31,243 cuts, driven largely by UPS, which said it would eliminate 30,000 jobs after severing ties with Amazon.
The technology sector followed with 22,291 job cuts, the majority coming from Amazon, which announced 16,000 layoffs as it restructures management layers. Challenger noted that while many CEOs have warned artificial intelligence will reduce jobs in the future, Amazon’s cuts appear tied more to overhiring and organizational streamlining than to automation.
Healthcare companies and health product manufacturers announced 17,107 job cuts, the highest monthly total for the sector since April 2020. Challenger says hospitals and providers are grappling with inflation, rising labor costs and lower reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare, pressures that are increasingly forcing staffing reductions.
Chemical manufacturers announced 4,701 job cuts, largely stemming from a move by Dow Inc., which cited a shift toward artificial intelligence and automation. It was the sector’s highest monthly total since 2016.
By contrast, layoffs in media were relatively muted. The industry announced 510 job cuts in January, down 18% from a year earlier. News organizations recorded just 65 cuts, a 66% decline from January 2025 and the lowest January total since 2022.
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