A closely watched monthly report on layoff announcements in the U.S. puts a staggering number on federal government agency cuts.
Placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas said layoff announcements in the federal government totaled 216,215 in March, the vast majority of the 275,240 layoffs announced by U.S. companies overall.
“Over the last two months, DOGE actions have been attributed to 280,253 layoffs plans of federal workers and contractors impacting 27 agencies,” Challenger said. “Another 4,429 job cuts have come from the downstream effect of cutting federal aid of ending contracts, mostly at nonprofits and health organizations.”
The March total is third third-highest monthly total ever recorded going back to at least 1989, topped only by layoffs announced in April and May 2020, at the onset of the pandemic.
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So far in 2025, Challenger said employers have announced 497,052 layoffs, the highest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2009, during the financial crisis. Layoff announcements so far this year are up 93% from the first three months of 2024 and more than triple the total layoffs announced in the final quarter of last year.
Minus the effects of DOGE actions, the March layoffs report would have been muted, with only 59,000 of those not related to government cuts.
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