According to a new report, the pace of layoffs spiked last month from the previous month—but the numbers are nuanced, with bright spots amid the seemingly bad news.
Executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ monthly jobs report out Thursday reported a total of 52,881 job cuts in August, up 58% from the previous month. However, when compared to August 2025, job cuts were actually down 38%, marking the lowest August rate since 2022. This is the sixth time this year that monthly job cuts are lower than they were in the corresponding month in 2025.
“This is the quietest August since 2022, but is generally on average for the month since the mid-2010s,” says Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer at the firm.
See also: Uber cuts 10% of workforce, tightens return-to-office rules
4 takeaways from the job cuts report
- Last month, job cuts were concentrated in several industries, with consumer products leading, followed by food and technology.
- Technology leads all industries for job cuts year to date.
- For the first time since February, artificial intelligence was not the leading cause for job cuts. Instead, restructuring was the cause for 31% of August’s cuts, followed by market and economic conditions, closings and AI.
- AI remains the top driver of job cuts for the year, with 116,175 cuts attributed to the technology since January.
What do hiring plans look like?
Alongside job cuts being down compared to last year, hiring is up significantly year over year. Employers surveyed by Challenger reported plans to hire 12,325 people last month, up 725% from the previous August and marking the highest hiring total for August in four years. The rate is down 23% from July’s hiring plans.
Yet, hiring is highly concentrated, with nearly half of hiring happening in manufacturing industries.
“Employers are making plans to add workers … The questions are how long will it take employers to actually fill these roles and will they find workers with the requisite skills,” says Challenger.
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