Artificial intelligence (AI) and cost-reduction caused American employers to cut 153,074 jobs last month.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a 175% jump from October of 2024 and 183% higher than the 54,064 cuts announced in September of this year, per a Thursday (Nov. 6)\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0by outplacement and executive coaching company\u00a0Challenger, Gray & Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOctober\u2019s pace of job cutting was much higher than average for the month,\u201d Andy Challenger, workplace expert and the company\u2019s chief revenue officer, said in a news release.<\/p>\n \u201cSome industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption,\u00a0softening consumer<\/a> and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes. Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also notes that October\u2019s total is the highest for that month since October of 2023, which saw a surge of layoffs in the retail space because of acquisitions, and in telecommunications as cell phones became more popular.<\/p>\n \u201cLike in 2003, a\u00a0disruptive technology<\/a>\u00a0is changing the landscape,\u201d said Challenger. \u201cOver the last decade, companies have shied away from announcing layoffs in the fourth quarter, so it\u2019s surprising to see so many in October.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p>\n He added the onset of social media has allowed workers to share their negative work experience, meaning the trend of announcing layoffs before the holidays faded away, \u201ca practice that seemed particularly cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the companies cutting jobs last month was\u00a0Amazon<\/a>, which said it planned to eliminate up to\u00a030,000 corporate roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report comes one day after the announcement of\u00a0planned Senate legislation<\/a>\u00a0that would require major companies and federal agencies to report artificial intelligence-related layoffs, hires, job displacements, retraining and other impacts to the Labor Department.<\/p>\n The bill would also require the DOL to compile data on AI-related job effects and publish a report to Congress and the public, according to a press release issued Wednesday (Nov. 5) by the bill\u2019s sponsors, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Mark Warner, D-Va.<\/p>\n