Just a day after payroll provider ADP indicated a positive twist in private payroll figures in the United States, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc has flipped the script back to its disappointing status quo.
As per recent data provided by it, US companies dealt out the most layoffs for an October last month by firing about 153,074 employees, marking a 183% rise from September (54,064). Not only did it bring the numbers 175% higher than what they were during the same month in 2024 (55,597 cuts), they were also the highest one recorded for an October since 2003, when 171,874 job cuts were reported.
Challenger report reveals 2025 October job cuts
On top of that, October layoff figures (as recorded in the executive coaching firm’s report released Thursday – US time), pushed the total number of job cuts this year beyond 1 million. With employers announcing 1,099,500 layoffs so far, the figures have surged 65% from the 664,839 job cuts called out in the first ten months of 2024.
As a result, year-to-year job cuts were recorded at the highest and most dismal levels since the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), when October layoff data brought the year’s job cuts to the significantly troubling number 2,304,755.
“This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008. Like in 2003, a disruptive technology is changing the landscape,” said Andy Challenger, the chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
He also noted that the reported October 2025 layoff stats were especially alarming since companies had originally shied away from announcing job cuts in the fourth quarter over the last decade. “With the onset of social media, and the ability for workers to share their negative experiences with their employers,” Challenger added, “the trend of announcing layoffs before the holidays fell away, a practice that seemed particularly cruel.”
What’s fuelling the highest October layoff figures?
As expected, the workplace expert attributed the dropping numbers to some industries “correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic.” However, he largely put the onus of “belt-tightening and hiring freezes” on “AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs.”
October layoff breakdown: ‘Cost-cutting’ emerged as the top reason prompting employers to gut the workforce, with 50,437 announced job cuts linked to the issue. ‘Artificial Intelligence‘ came in second among the most cited factors, and was held responsible for 31,039 job in October alone. ‘Market and Economic Conditions’ resulted in 21,104 cuts last month. Thereafter, ‘Closings’ of stores, units and plants accounted for 16,739 cuts, with ‘Restructuring’ cited in 7,588 October layoffs.
He then turned to blaming the ‘DOGE Impact’ for being the prime reason for layoff announcements this year, especially since it was cited in 293,753 layoffs so far, in light of the dropping numbers linked to the federal workforce and its contractors. Another 20,976 cuts were linked to ‘DOGE Downstream Impact,’ which referred to private and non-profit entities losing out on federal funding.
Challenger further highlighted that people who have been laid off so far found it much difficult to quickly land new jobs, which, in turn, raised the potential of loosening the labour market.