Before I get to the claims data, the January Challenger report saw the biggest amount of January job cuts since 2009 and the “highest monthly total since October 2025.” They said “Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
They blame a few things like UPS shedding 30k workers as they are dramatically shrink their business with Amazon. Amazon also is cutting 16k people. While healthcare we know has been a big source of job creation over the years, Challenger said this, “Healthcare providers and hospital systems are grappling with inflation and high labor costs. Lower reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare are also hitting hospital systems. These pressures are leading to job cuts, as well as other cutting measures, such as some pay and benefits.”
With AI, they said this, “It’s difficult to say how big an impact AI is having on layoffs specifically. We know leaders are talking about AI, many companies want to implement it in operations, and the market appears to be rewarding companies that mention it,” said Challenger.
