Layoffs hit their worst January levels since 2009, Challenger says
An Amazon Go store in New York, USA, on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that layoff plans reached their highest January total since the global financial crisis, while hiring intentions reached their lowest level since the same period.
U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month; This figure increased by 118% compared to the same period of the previous year and 205% by December 2025. The total marked the highest figure for any January since 2009, while the economy was in the final months of its steepest downturn since the Great Depression.
At the same time, companies announced just 5,306 new hires; This was the lowest January since Challenger began tracking such data in 2009. The crisis recession officially ended in March 2009.
Given that the recent narrative has focused on a no-hiring, no-fire labor market, Challenger data suggests the layoff part of the equation may increase.
“We generally see a lot of layoffs in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,” said Andy Challenger, the firm’s workplace expert and chief revenue officer. “This means most of these plans are set by the end of 2025, signaling that employers are less than optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
Of course, if employers are accelerating plans to furlough workers, this won’t show up in official government data.
Initial jobless claims were just 209,000 in the week ending January 24, with the long-term trend approaching a two-year low.
But some high-profile layoff announcements have reversed this trend. Amazon, UPS and Dow Inc. recently announced massive layoffs. In fact, shipping hit an industry high in January, largely due to UPS’ plans to lay off more than 30,000 workers. Technology came in second after Amazon announced it would cut 16,000 jobs, mostly at the corporate level.
Planned hiring is down 13% from January 2025 and 49% from December.
Challenger’s data may also be variable and may not be correlated with official statistics. However, applications made to the Ministry of Labor under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification regulations in January show that more than 100 companies have notified serious layoffs.
