The job market right now is about as welcoming as a porcupine at a balloon party. While economists have been throwing around that “no hire, no fire” phrase like it’s some kind of comfort, the reality is that pink slips are flying faster than conspiracy theories on your uncle’s Facebook feed.
Between Trump’s tariff tantrum, AI’s relentless march forward, and companies suddenly discovering they have “too many layers” (a polite way of saying “we hired too many people during the pandemic”), workers across America are scanning job boards with the same anxiety they reserve for checking their 401(k) during a market crash.
Here’s the brutal rundown of who’s swinging the ax right now:
1. Amazon — 14,000 Jobs Gone
Amazon just dropped the hammer on roughly 14,000 corporate employees—that’s 4% of their workforce getting shown the door. CEO Andy Jassy sent out one of those “we value your contributions” letters that essentially translates to: “You’ve got 90 days to find a new gig internally or you’re out.”
The company’s betting big on AI, which apparently means betting against actual humans. Jassy has been pretty upfront about this, basically saying that generative AI is going to slim down Amazon’s corporate roster whether people like it or not. Cold comfort for those updating their LinkedIn profiles right now.
2. UPS — 48,000 Workers Laid Off
United Parcel Service isn’t messing around. They’ve disclosed a jaw-dropping 48,000 job cuts this year as part of their “turnaround efforts”—a fancy euphemism for “things aren’t going great, folks.” About 34,000 operational positions got the axe, plus another 14,000 management roles.
That’s more than double what UPS initially forecast, which should tell you everything you need to know about how well they saw this coming.
3. Microsoft — 15,000 Jobs Slashed
The tech giant kicked things off in May with about 6,000 layoffs, then decided to go back for seconds and announced another 9,000 cuts—their biggest bloodbath in over two years. The Xbox division got hit particularly hard, along with other departments.
Microsoft’s official line? The reality—or at least what the numbers suggest—is that they’re shoveling mountains of cash into AI development, and actual people just cost too much.
4. General Motors — 1,700+ Workers Cut
GM just laid off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio, with hundreds more facing temporary layoffs. The reason? Turns out people aren’t exactly lining up to buy electric vehicles at the pace GM expected.
The auto giant has been downsizing everywhere lately—200 layoffs hitting engineers in Detroit, another 300 at a Georgia IT Innovation Center that they’re also shuttering. So much for “we believe in American manufacturing” when facilities are closing and workers are getting pink slips.
5. Nestlé — 16,000 Global Job Cuts
The Swiss food conglomerate announced it’s cutting 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years. That’s a lot of people who won’t be making your Hot Pockets and KitKats anymore.
Nestlé’s blaming rising commodity costs and—surprise!—U.S. tariffs for their financial headwinds. They already hiked prices on coffee and cocoa products over the summer, and now they’re trimming the workforce. Because when times get tough, it appears the first thing to go is the people who actually make the products.
6. Intel — Down to 75,000 Core Workers
Intel is in the middle of what can only be described as an existential crisis. The chipmaker is desperately trying to catch up to rivals like Nvidia and AMD, and its strategy involves laying off massive chunks of its workforce.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced they expect to end the year with just 75,000 core employees, down from 99,500 at the end of last year. That’s a 15% workforce reduction through layoffs and attrition. When you’re losing the AI chip race, fewer people seems to be the answer rather than, say, a better strategy.
7. Procter & Gamble — Up to 7,000 Jobs Over Two Years
The maker of Tide and Pampers is cutting up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years—that’s 6% of their global workforce. P&G is calling it a “restructuring,” which is the same thing your high school guidance counselor called it when they told you that maybe college wasn’t for everyone.
The company got squeezed by tariff pressures and had to hike prices on about a quarter of its products. Because nothing says “we’re all in this together” quite like making your laundry detergent more expensive while laying off thousands of workers.
8. Target — 1,800 Corporate Jobs Eliminated
Target decided last week that 1,800 corporate employees—about 8% of their global corporate workforce—needed to go. Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke said they had “too many layers and overlapping work” slowing things down.
Translation: We hired a bunch of middle managers during the good times, and now we can’t afford them. Target’s also dealing with flat or declining sales in nine of the past 11 quarters, which means somebody had to take the fall. And it sure wasn’t going to be the C-suite executives.
9. Paramount — 2,000 Jobs After Skydance Merger
Just months after completing their $8-billion merger with Skydance, Paramount is showing about 2,000 employees the door—roughly 10% of the workforce. They kicked off with about 1,000 layoffs, with more cuts coming down the pipeline.
A mega-merger followed by mass layoffs—the classic corporate playbook. These cuts were “long-awaited,” which we’re guessing is corporate speak for “everyone saw this coming but hoped they wouldn’t be the ones affected.”
10. ConocoPhillips — Up to 25% of Workforce
Oil giant ConocoPhillips wins the award for most brutal percentage cut: they’re planning to lay off up to a quarter of their entire workforce as part of their cost-cutting efforts. That’s between 2,600 and 3,250 workers out of about 13,000 total employees and contractors.
Most of these cuts are expected to happen before the end of 2025, giving people just enough time to panic about their mortgages and holiday spending. When oil prices fluctuate, the go-to solution seems to be “fire everyone and hope for the best.