U.S. employers announced about 108,000 layoffs in January 2026, the highest layoff count to start a year since 2009, driven heavily by big cuts at firms like UPS and Amazon and accompanied by very weak hiring plans.
The numbers come from a report produced by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, a global outplacement and executive coaching firm that has been tracking job data since 2009.
Key numbers
- Employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January, up 118% from roughly 49,800 a year earlier and 205% from December 2025; it is the largest January total since 2009 and the highest single month since October 2025.
- Companies announced only about 5,300 new hires, the lowest January hiring figure since Challenger started tracking that series in 2009, pointing to a weak demand side, not just churn.
Where the cuts are concentrated
- Transportation led the layoff totals, mainly due to UPS announcing plans to eliminate more than 30,000 jobs.
- Technology was another major contributor, with Amazon alone planning about 16,000 corporate job cuts; tech and related sectors reported tens of thousands of additional reductions.
- Healthcare and health products (including hospitals): 17,107 cuts, the highest for the sector since April 2020.
Challenger’s commentary stresses that Q1 is usually heavy for layoffs, but this January is unusually high, suggesting many plans were set late in 2025 and reflect pessimism about the 2026 outlook rather than a sudden shock.
Why the layoffs?
Contract loss: 30,784 job cuts (top stated reason).
Market and economic conditions: 28,392 cuts.
Restructuring: about 20,044–20,444 cuts.
Closings: 12,738 cuts.
AI specifically cited in 7,624 job cuts (about 7% of total).
Interpretation for outlook
Challenger emphasizes that Q1 is usually heavy for cuts, but this January is unusually high, implying many plans were locked in late 2025 and that employers are “less‑than‑optimistic” about the 2026 outlook.
The combo of elevated layoffs, record‑low January hiring plans, falling openings, and very weak ADP suggests the prior “low‑hire, low‑fire” regime is starting to shift toward higher separation risk without a corresponding increase in new opportunities.
