Artificial intelligence has become the second-most-cited reason for layoffs in the United States this year, accounting for nearly 55,000 job cuts through 2025, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Total US layoffs hit 1.17 million, a level not seen since the pandemic.
The largest single announcement came in October when Amazon cut 14,000 corporate roles. Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience, framed it around AI in a company blog post, calling it "the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet." The company says more cuts are coming. Some laid-off employees pushed back publicly, with one Amazon engineer stating that AI tools haven't made workers significantly more productive.
Microsoft eliminated about 15,000 positions through the year, with the largest wave of 9,000 in July. CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged the "enigma" of cutting jobs while the company posts record profits, though Microsoft hasn't directly attributed the cuts to AI replacing workers. Salesforce was more explicit: CEO Marc Benioff confirmed in September that 4,000 customer support roles were cut, telling a podcast "I need less heads" because of AI efficiencies. Workday kicked off the year in February by cutting 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of staff, citing AI investment priorities.
Whether AI is actually doing the work or just providing rhetorical cover for cost-cutting is disputed. Analysts have coined the term "AI-washing" to describe companies using the technology as justification for layoffs that may be driven by other factors. A bipartisan Senate bill now seeks federal tracking of AI-attributed job losses.
The Bottom Line: October alone saw 153,000 US job cuts, the worst October for layoffs in over 20 years.
QUICK FACTS
- 55,000: US layoffs attributed to AI in 2025 (Challenger, Gray & Christmas)
- 1.17 million: Total US job cuts in 2025, highest since 2020
- 14,000: Amazon corporate jobs cut in October
- 15,000: Microsoft jobs eliminated through 2025
- 4,000: Salesforce customer support roles cut
- 1,750: Workday layoffs in February
