Last month saw the highest number of job cut announcements for any January since 2009

Record Job Cuts Announced in January

A UPS employee moves packages onto a cart in New York, October 27, 2025. - Bloomberg via Getty Images

Major companies such as Amazon and UPS announced significant layoffs last month, making this January the worst for job cut announcements since the financial crisis, according to new data released Thursday.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that employers in the United States revealed plans to eliminate 108,435 jobs in January. This figure is more than triple December’s total and more than double the number of layoffs announced in January of the previous year.

This marks the highest number of January layoff announcements since 2009, the firm noted.

Amazon and UPS Lead Layoff Announcements

Roughly 40% of January’s job cuts were attributed to Amazon and UPS, which announced plans to reduce their workforces by 16,000 and 30,000 positions, respectively. The layoffs were concentrated in five sectors: transportation, technology, healthcare and health products, chemicals, and finance.

Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at the outplacement and executive coaching firm, commented, “While it’s typical to see elevated job cuts early in the year, this January’s total is unusually high. It suggests that many of these decisions were made at the end of 2025, reflecting a cautious outlook for 2026.”

The Spheres at Amazon headquarters in Seattle, January 29, 2026. - Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images

Weak Job Growth and Hiring Slowdown

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last year saw the slowest job growth outside of a recession since 2003. Challenger’s data indicates that there was no significant improvement in the first month of 2026.

In January, US employers announced plans to hire just 5,306 new workers—the lowest number ever recorded for the month since Challenger began tracking hiring announcements in 2009.

Payroll company ADP reported on Wednesday that private-sector employment grew by only 22,000 jobs in January.

Reasons Behind the Layoffs

• Loss of contracts: 30,784 jobs
• Market and economic factors: 28,392 jobs
• Restructuring: 20,044 jobs
• Closures: 12,738 jobs
• Artificial intelligence: 7,624 jobs
• Tariffs: 294 jobs

Challenger noted that while it’s hard to determine the exact impact of artificial intelligence on layoffs, many business leaders are discussing AI, and companies that mention it are often rewarded by the market.