FOX Enterprise Grady Trimble experiences on the DOGE committee transition as Elon Musk says goodbye to the budget-slashing company.
Layoffs of U.S. staff have been practically 50% greater in Could than they have been a yr in the past, with reductions attributed to the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) remaining the main motive for job cuts this yr, in keeping with a brand new report.
International outplacement Challenger, Grey & Christmas launched a report Thursday that mentioned there have been 93,816 job cuts introduced by U.S. employers in Could. That quantities to a rise of 47% from 63,816 introduced final Could, whereas final month’s determine was down 12% from 105,441 cuts in April.
That brings the full variety of job cuts introduced this yr to 696,309 – a rise of 80% from the 385,859 jobs minimize within the first 5 months of 2024. This yr’s whole is simply 65,049 job cuts away from matching the 2024 annual whole.
“Tariffs, funding cuts, client spending, and total financial pessimism are placing intense stress on firms’ workforces. Corporations are spending much less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” mentioned Andrew Challenger, senior vp of Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
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DOGE was cited as the reason for 284,044 layoffs in 2025 to this point. (Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
The affect of DOGE was the main motive for job minimize bulletins in 2025, because it has been cited in 284,044 deliberate layoffs by the primary 5 months of 2025.
These figures embody each direct reductions within the federal workforce and contractors who work with federal businesses. The downstream affect of DOGE, akin to non-public non-profits shedding entry to federal funding as a consequence of DOGE, was attributed to an extra 10,459 cuts, the report famous.
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DOGE cuts have been the main motive for layoffs in 2025 to this point. (SAUL LOEB/AFP by way of Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
The second-most cited motive for workforce reductions have been market and financial circumstances, which have been attributed to 131,257 cuts this yr.
Closures of shops, models or vegetation led to an extra 94,439 layoffs; whereas restructuring accounted for 62,015 cuts and company chapter was attributed as the reason for 35,501.
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Elon Musk led DOGE’s cost-cutting push till his time as a particular authorities worker elapsed. (Picture by Samuel Corum/Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
The report additionally famous that technological updates, akin to these associated to the implementation of synthetic intelligence (AI), have led to twenty,000 job cuts this yr up to now.
Employers have introduced 79,941 deliberate hires by Could 2025, which represents a rise of 57% from the variety of hires introduced at this level in 2024.
The report famous that whereas “firms have introduced extra hiring plans this yr than final, it stays traditionally low when in comparison with pre-pandemic and early-pandemic years.”
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“The present 2025 hiring tempo is extra aligned with 2012 (50,194 YTD) and 2013 (180,012 YTD) than with the rebound years of 2021-2022, suggesting that, whereas firms are including staff, they’re doing so cautiously,” Challenger mentioned.
