Economy: Challenger Job Cuts Report for SEPTEMBER 2025

Friday, October 03, 2025

Challenger Job Cuts Report for SEPTEMBER 2025

The global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc. released its job cuts report, for September, 2025:

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Job Cuts Announced During September 2025: 54,064

Previous Month: 85,979

> Change from previous month: -37.12% (-31,915 cuts)

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One-Year Previous: 72,821

> Change from one-year previous: -25.76% (-18,757 cuts)

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From Today's Report:

"...WHY ARE COMPANIES CUTTING [JOBS] IN 2025?

'DOGE Actions' remains the leading reason for job cut announcements in 2025, cited in 293,753 planned layoffs so far this year. This includes direct reductions to the Federal workforce and its contractors. An additional 20,976 cuts have been attributed to DOGE Downstream Impact, such as the loss of funding to private non-profits and affiliated organizations.

Market and Economic Conditions are the second-most cited reason for workforce reductions, responsible for 208,227 cuts year to date. This reflects employers’ continued response to economic uncertainty, inflation, tariffs, and shifting demand across sectors.

Closings of stores, units, or plants have led to 144,652 layoffs so far this year, up from 97,590 during the same period last year. Restructuring efforts have resulted in 100,450 job cuts, while Bankruptcies accounted for another 37,590 layoffs, up from 10,700 through September 2024.

Technological Updates, including automation and possibly AI implementation, have led to 20,219 job cuts in 2025. Another 17,375 were explicitly attributed to Artificial Intelligence, including 7,000 announced in September..."

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If corporate layoffs are high, consumer spending may decline, since there would be fewer people with steady jobs.

When corporate layoffs are low, this can mean that the job market is relatively tight, which can be a harbinger of wage inflation.

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