Is the resilience of the American job market finally starting to crack? October 2025 brought the largest wave of layoffs since the pandemic, with more than 172,000 positions erased across industries. The cuts have hit retail, technology, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and media, each with its own storyline but all underpinned by cost pressures, strategic pivots, and the accelerating reach of artificial intelligence.
Some economists believe that this is a signal the nation is teetering toward a recession, while others say it is a painful but necessary restructuring. The U.S. has what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calls a “low-hire, low-fire economy,” but that firewall of low layoffs is showing some cracks. From Amazon’s AI-driven transformation to the cultural and sales issues at Target, corporate America’s workforce is changing. Here is a look at the largest job cuts underway.
1. Amazon’s AI-Driven Corporate Shake-Up
Amazon is eliminating about 14,000 corporate positions, some 4% of its white-collar workforce, in what executives characterized as a bid to “reduce bureaucracy” and “remove organizational layers.” Beth Galetti, SVP for People Experience, said the restructuring will make the company leaner and more agile as it deepens investment in generative AI.
Chief executive Andy Jassy has been open about that: “We’ll need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” he said, with AI increasingly doing planning, analytics, and forecasting work. Yet analysts also note the irony: Amazon was once synonymous with blue-collar automation; now it’s targeting middle management for AI-driven replacement. Gartner projects that by 2026, one in five organizations will use AI to eliminate at least half of their management layers.
2. Target Reports First Major Layoffs in a Decade
Target is cutting 1,800 corporate jobs 1,000 layoffs, plus 800 unfilled positions which is 8% of its headquarters staff. New chief executive Michael Fiddelke blamed “too many layers and overlapping work” for slowing decisions, but the deeper issue is 11 consecutive quarters of weak sales and declining store traffic.
The retailer’s abrupt reversal on its diversity, equity, and inclusion program at the beginning of this year alienated some shoppers, adding to boycotts from others. Traffic has declined 7.6% year-over-year this September, according to Placer.ai. GlobalData’s Neil Saunders said morale is already low, with 40% of employees not confident in the future of the company.
3. Paramount Skydance’s $2 Billion Cost-Cut
Following its $8 billion merger, Paramount Skydance is laying off some 1,000 workers in the U.S., with 1,000 more to go. Cuts reach into CBS News, cable channels, TV production, and the historic Melrose Avenue studio. The network news operation alone lost around 100 staffers, shut its Johannesburg bureau and axed several streaming shows.
“These moves address redundancies and phase out roles no longer aligned with our evolving priorities,” said CEO David Ellison in a statement. The layoffs come amid promises to eliminate diversity programs, a condition tied to regulatory approval of the merger, and reflect broader contraction in the entertainment sector after the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes.
4. Charter Communications Streamlines Management
Charter Communications plans to lay off 1,200 workers in the US just more than 1 percent of its 95,000 total staff concentrated on headquarters and regional bases in Connecticut, North Carolina, Colorado, and Missouri. According to sources who spoke to the Los Angeles Times, the goal is to flatten its management layers.
The move is part of a broader trend among fund managers to cut administrative positions that are no longer needed due to automation and digital service delivery.
5. Novo Nordisk’s Global Efficiency Push
Novo Nordisk plans to lay off 9,000 employees 11% of its workforce due to strong, increasing competition for its blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. About 5,000 cuts are in Denmark, with U.S. plants also affected. The CEO, Mike Doustdar, wants to save $1.26 billion annually by 2026 and shift to a more performance-based culture.
The GLP-1 drug market is becoming increasingly competitive, with compounded versions stealing market share despite regulatory crackdowns. Novo’s share price has halved in a year, and that has prompted aggressive restructuring to protect profitability.
6. UPS to Cut Massive Workforce
United Parcel Service has cut 48,000 jobs since January, more than twice the initial estimate of 20,000. While in part a result of renegotiation of labor and contract disputes in 2023, the cuts are also part of a drive for greater efficiency.
Bloomberg economist Stuart Paul called the scale “shocking,” highlighting that although some cuts are cyclical, others are structural, driven by changes in logistics brought about by automation and changes in consumer delivery patterns.
7. Starbucks’ $1 Billion Restructuring
Starbucks, in a $1 billion restructuring announced in September, is eliminating about 900 non-retail positions, focusing on the simplification of corporate operations and shifting resources to growth areas.
The coffee chain’s move underlines a broader shift in service sector employment, with headquarters jobs becoming increasingly vulnerable to efficiency drives and the integration of technology.
8. Microsoft Continues to Cut Jobs
In 2025 alone, Microsoft has done several rounds of layoffs, including both technical and administrative professionals. The company is hiring in AI-related areas but laying off employees in other departments to keep up with the shifting tide of market priorities.
The broader technology industry has shed more than 128,000 jobs this year, with AI adoption often cited as a factor driving down corporate headcount.
9. Meta’s Quiet Workforce Trimming
Meta is cutting around 8,000 jobs this quarter after its self-declared “Year of Efficiency.” According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company needs to keep being “disciplined and lean” as revenues continue to weaken, which is also impacting advertising worldwide. Like other tech giants, Meta is balancing selective expansion in AI teams with contraction in other areas, reflecting a cautious approach to growth in the cooling economy. This wave of layoffs is not confined to one sector or one cause; it’s a convergence of economic caution, competitive pressures, and technological transformation. Even while GDP growth holds up, the breadth of these cuts raises the risk of slower consumer spending and weakened confidence. For now, corporations are betting that leaner structures and AI integration will secure long-term gains, yet the short-term human cost cannot be ignored. How well the U.S. economy absorbs this shock will shape the trajectory of the labor market into 2026.
