If there’s one thing that’s a constant in the world right now, it’s that there will be news about layoffs, seemingly every single week.
It’s a scary time in the workforce, and especially in the tech sector. In 2024, more than 150,000 job cuts occurred in this area, with giants such as Amazon, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, and others conducting sizable layoffs.
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Unfortunately, it seems layoffs are also trending into 2025, not just in tech but across many sectors. Perhaps the most notable wave so far has been driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has cut so many jobs that the layoffs rank as the third-largest of all time.
While lawsuits already that claim the Trump Administration’s mass layoffs are illegal, one thing is for sure — they’ve left hundreds of thousands of people unemployed and unsure what to do next.
Related: Struggling drugstore chain announces second bankruptcy
Unemployment also comes with a nasty new side effect: staying unemployed for longer. Ongoing unemployment claims are at their highest level since November 2021, The Labor Department announced in April.
Now another job sector is under major threat of mass layoffs, and it’s one that many people rely heavily on to survive.
Shoppers may be unaware of what may soon change about their favorite stores.
Image source: Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
This year saw a distressing amount of job cuts
A new report from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas sheds distressing light on a vulnerable job sector: retail.
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According to the report, U.S. retailers eliminated more than 64,000 jobs during the first four months of 2025, the second most of any industry. That four-month total is a 296% increase from the same four month span in 2024.
Retail bankruptcies have played a big role in this surge. Several longtime retailers announced bankruptcies in 2025, including Joann Fabrics, which left 19,000 employees without jobs; Party City, which filed for bankruptcy twice and left 16,000 workers unemployed; and Big Lots, which is finding new life after its bankruptcy but has still had to lay off 1,000 people in the process.
Related: Google sends a harsh message to employees after layoffs
Retailers that are not in bankruptcy have also had to conduct mass layoffs. Starbucks was one of them, laying off 1,100 corporate employees in February and telling remaining employees that they needed to step their game up.Â
Then there’s corporate restructuring, which there’s been a lot of so far this year. CVS, Walmart, JCPenney, Saks, and Estée Lauder are just a few of the companies that have made cuts this year after struggling with considerable headwinds.
Related: Struggling luxury department store cuts 450 jobs
The reason behind the increase in retail layoffs
While bankruptcy is an obvious reason for a large number of these layoffs, another reason may be that the retail industry is steeling itself for the inevitable effects that President Trump’s tariffs could have on its future operations.
Many companies have said they will lose billions of dollars this year while shifting manufacturing and supply chains to the U.S. from China, a few among them Apple CEO Tim Cook and Ford CEO Jim Farley.
Losing so much money, naturally, hardly puts a company in a position to hire more people. If anything, it makes layoffs more likely.
With such an uncertain climate, it’s hard to say what retailers may announce layoffs next. But unfortunately, one thing is for sure: more are definitely on the way.
Related: These two industries could face mass layoffs this year
