Layoffs announced by employers declined on a monthly basis in November but still pushed the 2025 total to the highest level since the wave of pandemic-induced layoffs in 2020, new data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows.
The report found that U.S. employers announced 71,321 layoffs in November — down 53% from the 153,074 cuts announced in October.
Layoffs in the month of November were up 24% from the 57,727 cuts announced in that month last year, and reached their highest level for the month since 2022, which marked the eighth time this year that job cuts in a given month were higher than the corresponding month a year ago.
"Layoff plans fell last month. Certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Historically, job cuts in November were below 70,000 from 1993 until 2000, then the recession year of 2001 pushed the cuts that month to more than 181,000, according to the firm's tracking. Layoffs in November remained elevated until 2009 and stayed below 200,000 until the pandemic.
"It was the trend to announce layoff plans toward the end of the year, to align with most companies' fiscal year-ends. It became unpopular after the Great Recession especially, and best practice dictated layoff plans would occur at times other than the holidays," Challenger said.