The year 2025 will go down in history as one of the most unstable ones for the job market. Companies have eliminated positions at a rate not seen since
the pandemic, leaving hundreds of thousands searching for jobs, returning to school, or completely reconsidering their careers across industries and countries.
According to data gathered from many trackers and business sources, the United States alone has experienced more than 1.1 million layoffs this year, the biggest number since 2020 and a significant increase from 2024 levels.
Several large companies have announced significant layoffs in the technology industry, which has historically been a sign of larger economic trends:
TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
Amazon
American e-commerce giant laid off approximately 14,000 corporate employees in October — its largest layoff in the company's history — in an effort to improve agility in the face of an AI-driven competitive landscape and reduce management layers.
Intel
Intel announced that it will cut around 24,000 employees by the end of the year, bringing its core staff down from about 100,000 to roughly 75,000. The company claimed that this is part of its new leadership's significant restructuring.
Microsoft
Throughout 2025, Microsoft had many waves of layoffs, losing about 9,000 employees, or less than 4% of its total 220,000 worldwide workforce. The company is also getting ready to eliminate around 6,000 more positions in several divisions. The business reasoned that it was critical to keep expenses under control while allocating more funds to cloud computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
In 2025, Google implemented waves of layoffs that impacted teams across its US operations. As it raised its efforts in artificial intelligence, the company eliminated more than 100 design positions in its cloud division in October.
Meta
Facebook parent Meta has laid off over 600 workers — primarily from its AI research and development departments — in October as part of an ongoing effort to streamline project teams and concentrate on generative AI investments and development at Reality Labs.
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
TCS has laid off 6,000 workers worldwide this year and intends to eliminate an additional 6,000 positions in the upcoming fiscal year. For the first time since 2022, TCS currently employs fewer than 600,000 employees after cutting 19,755 positions in the quarter ending September 30. The firm announced its biggest layoffs ever due to the AI surge and the tense relations between the US and India.
Accenture
The consulting and IT services company has said it will eliminate thousands of positions as part of its strategy to give AI capabilities top priority and adapt to shifting customer demands. The company's whole workforce dropped from about 791,000 to 779,000 workers, and as AI continues to grow across the company, more layoffs are expected.
Salesforce
As part of a significant transition to AI-driven services, Salesforce has eliminated 4,000 customer service positions. The company's customer service staff dropped from 9,000 to about 5,000 due to AI-driven workforce reduction.
Cisco
As part of a significant restructuring, Cisco announced intentions to eliminate approximately 4,250 positions, or 5% of its staff. According to government documents, 221 positions — 157 in Santa Clara County and 64 in San Francisco — will be eliminated at its Milpitas and San Francisco offices starting in October.
Oracle
In 2025, Oracle slashed hundreds of positions at several locations to reallocate funds to cloud computing and AI. After layoffs in its cloud segment in August, the corporation eliminated 101 positions in Seattle and 254 in San Francisco in September. Oracle reportedly intends to lay off 161 positions in Seattle, 101 more in Santa Clara, and around 200 in Pleasanton and Redwood City.
Over 100,000 jobs have been lost in tech across more than 200 organisations, according to publicly tracked layoffs; however, this number may underestimate positions lost through attrition or informal layoffs.
LOGISTICS AND RETAIL
The logistics sector, traditionally robust in job creation, faced disruption from automation and changing commerce patterns:
United Parcel Service (UPS)
The biggest shock to its employees this year came from UPS, which announced 48,000 layoffs as part of a restructuring plan. There will be approximately 34,000 operational jobs lost, including thousands of delivery drivers.
The rapid adoption of automation and AI technology has perhaps received the most attention for the mass layoffs. Many companies contend that AI solutions can automate functions that were previously completed by human labour, such as content moderation, logistical planning, customer support, and coding assistance.
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