Layoffs Skyrocketed to Near Pandemic Highs in March. Here Are the Industries Impacted the Most. Layoffs increased by 60% from February to March.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- A new report shows that layoffs spiked to 275,240 job cuts in March.
- Layoffs increased in March to their highest level since the pandemic.
- The federal government drove most of the layoffs, contributing to 216,215 cuts.
More than 275,000 people lost their jobs in March, the highest number ever recorded for the month.
That's according to data from the business and executive coaching company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which has been tracking layoffs since 1989. Challenger found that U.S. employers let go of 275,240 people in March, a 60% jump from the 172,017 cuts in February and a 205% increase from the 90,309 cuts in March 2024.
March had the highest number of layoffs since the pandemic when most of the economy shut down. The only higher layoff counts happened during the pandemic in April 2020, with 671,129 cuts, and in May 2020, with 397,016.
Challenger identified that the U.S. federal government, specifically the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was responsible for most of the layoffs in March. DOGE, a federal entity established by President Donald Trump's executive order in January and headed by Elon Musk, led to cuts of 216,215 jobs in the month.
Challenger pinpointed that DOGE organized layoffs of 280,253 workers across February and March, affecting 27 agencies. The government has reduced 279,445 jobs so far this year.
"Job cut announcements were dominated last month by Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] plans to eliminate positions in the federal government," said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas in a statement. "It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs."
DOGE's goal is to shrink the more than 2.4 million-person federal workforce by 75% through buyouts and layoffs.
DOGE has offered federal workers multiple buyout offers to voluntarily resign in exchange for pay and benefits until the end of September. The agency has also overseen job cuts at multiple agencies, including a plan to cut up to half of the 90,000 workers at the IRS.
Related: Want to Work for DOGE? Elon Musk Is Looking for 'Super High-IQ' Hires — But There's a Catch
Challenger also found that the technology industry, financial firms, and retail companies laid off at least 10,000 workers each in March. VC firm Sequoia Capital and Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block both conducted layoffs during the month, with Sequoia shutting down its D.C. office and Block letting go of more than 900 workers in a restructuring effort.
Layoffs across the public and private sectors are outpacing U.S. private-sector hiring. According to a national employment report released by ADP Research on Wednesday, private companies in the U.S. added 155,000 jobs in March. Though the additions were higher than the Dow Jones forecast of 120,000 jobs, they were still lower than the over 275,000 jobs lost in the month.
