Employers revealed more job cuts in February than they had in any month since July 2020, according to a report released Thursday, with much of the reduction concentrated in efforts led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Protesters against DOGE federal worker layoffs gather at the Senate Hart Office Building on Capitol ... [+]
The roughly 172,000 layoffs announced last month were the most February cuts since 2009, said the career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
More than a third (about 62,00) of the cuts were in federal government positions.
Employers announced close to 222,000 job cuts in 2025’s first two months, the worst two-month start to a year for layoffs since 2009, during the Great Recession.
Andrew Challenger, the firm’s senior vice president, named DOGE actions, canceled government contracts, trade war fears and private bankruptcies as the primary reasons for the layoff surge.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.