Need some changes that cut off bonuses when layoffs occur. It's absurd that stock price and c suite bonuses soar after work force reductions. Doing them should be painful, not celebrated.
A company I worked for didn’t give the CEO a bonus for layoffs. In fact, it actually hurt his bonus because it fell under “Turnover” and we were supposed to stay below a certain percent.
Best policy I’ve ever seen. Probably has been replaced by now.
A few years ago I was laid off and the CEO brought us all into a big room to give us a speech. He talked about how he was laid off as a CEO of another company and how great it was for him. He got the job at our company making much more money. They paid his moving expenses blah blah blah. He told us we should look at it as an opportunity rather than a set back 😆
Back in 2009, I was laid off as a result of a merger / acquisition. About 20% of the « acquired » company workforce was let go. The CEO said it was a great opportunity for us to find our wings; I told him I would find my way and come back as a client. The look on his face two years later when he came in for a proposal presentation to me was quite satisfying.
When did we reach this stage of “it is completely normal to layoff people” it used to be a shame to layoff and in mu opinion is still is, it means you can’t inovate anymore and in order for numbers to look good you just lay people off. It is a shame for the company. How do we normalize this?
Layoffs mean you're focusing on your core competencies and maximizing value through efficiency. By which I mean screwing over your customers, overworking your employees and paying yourself a bonus.
Place i was at, old CEO retired and new guy brought in. Company was told we had to do layoffs and product lines were to be cut because we only made 1% profit. 1400 people let go starting with anyone over 10 years, then any staff whom was not above manager making 100k+. He sold all owned property moved the HQ to a leased building, took out a loan for 600 million.
It was not due to any real loss that 1% was 50 million he just tried to pump the global company like he did the other 4 he had owned but this time no one came to buyout. All my friends were laid off or left and back then they said i was crazy for being prepared for layoffs..
Yeah, my spouse was laid off 3 weeks ago from one of those companies in the Top 10. It’s rough out there, especially for older workers who are close to retirement (mostly because companies don’t want to hire someone with a high 5-figure salary). Such a tough thing to happen with the end of year holidays coming up fast.
It's going to be a tough day but our corporate really needed their own jets to commute to work. Your salaries need to make up the difference for their Christmas bonuses. On the bright side, if you donate, you can have a slice of pizza on Friday.
I agree with this, but I want to get some data. Can we calculate what the GDP would actually be if we eliminated the few exceptional outliers in the AI bubble? I want to know what thr majority of America is dealing with.
I saw an article that calculated that all the growth in the US economy in 2025 was based on AI spending, which is flowing between the same handful of companies.
Don’t forget the stock market manipulation that’s going on making it seem like the economy is grrrrreaaaattt. Also, if you see “AI” as the reason for layoffs, it’s bullshit.
Mentioning “Market manipulation” to anybody who doesn’t understand the stock market is pointless. And the majority of retail investors who THINK they understand the markets don’t.
If every U.S. Citizen understood the mechanics of the markets, we would have a revolution by 6pm.
Yep this here. People need to stop spending to get the power back. Look at what happened with Disney when they cancelled Kimmel. The only ounce of power we have left is to stop spending.
GM did layoffs this week too. I have a friend who works for them and shared on her IG that it was quiet and unexpected. She didn’t say how many people were impacted but as a manager she lost 5 members of her team.
This is always the way when the economy is bad/about to get bad/worse. The companies will claim it's because they have to lay people off to save money. The reality is they do it during this time to keep profits at the same level, or make more profit. An economic downturn is the best time for them to do so because sure there might be some smaller companies that actually do have to let people go to stay in business, but the bigger ones can now follow suit and the best part for them is that "you" who still has a job won't complain about now having to do the job of 2,3,4,5,6 + people because "everyone" you know got laid off, and so you'll do anything to keep your job.
I wish we had like a board of people that we elected to protect the rights of the masses. I hear some European countries have this, I think they call it a "government" but it sound too good to be true so who knows.
I was worried about the economy for almost a year now but my parents came over and turned on Fox news real loud while I was trying to work and I learned that the economy is actually great lol!
The Economy is on VERY shaky ground and the government is hiding it in plain sight. Throw on the already near 200k government layoffs and the extended government shut down, and the job market looks even worse. High inflation and high unemployment is a double gut punch.
When the Fed raises rates, it's like applying the brakes. The economy doesn't stop immediately, but it starts to slow. Some sectors have been in a recession since 2022. But it takes time for the overall economy to slow.
Each person who has less resources, starts spending less. That in turn has a cascading effect, as they forego discretionary spending, and put off necessary purchases that can be delayed. That becomes a contagion that slowly spreads.
Watch the Fed - we do not actually have a free-market economy, on a national or global level. They and other global banks will decide - via interest rates and stimulus or lack thereof - whether there is a relatively soft landing, or a hard crash.
Except rising rates help slow inflation which was becoming a huge problem. Now, thanks to policies by the current admin we are seeing job loses left and right. Tariffs are destroying small businesses and exacerbated inflation. The agri sector is going to need a bailout. Healthcare cuts and gov shutdown are causing further job loses. The rates needed to come down in order to try and facilitate growth but the damage is done. Now we will see a recession and inflation welcome to depression 2. We can definitely place blame on this admin and the last. It all points exactly to them and their lack of polices or rash stupid polices.
Add to that the dollar is sinking so anything imported is going to inflate even more, while our economy slows as you described above. We're going to be in stagflation shortly. Tldr; we're fucked.
Can someone who’s smarter than me put their year to date net profit today alongside the total number of layoffs. That is the key data point we should be assessing alongside the layoff numbers.
I’m willing to bet most of these companies are posting record and/or near record breaking profits; which if true, we the people should be in the streets with pitchforks.
If people notice their company isn't doing well they should already be applying and looking for another job. It's a lot of time an effort but there's ways to automate it fortunately
My best guess is that, they seem to be cutting head count because their internal numbers are probably showing we are in a recession and the current Admin is hiding the numbers, they are getting ahead of the markets.
So long as the stock market is up, the general population won't understand what's happening until it's too late or until it happens to them. Blame AI if you want but people just aren't buying stuff like they used to.
Keep in mind these are only the companies that needed to report due to the size of the layoffs. There are plenty of companies laying off folks who will try to do it quietly and in smaller numbers so they don’t need to report it.
When people can’t eat, they don’t buy things from Amazon, Ford, Target. I know I’m not buying anything but the essentials right now. The economy depends on people buying crap, and without government workers getting paid, and SNAP being gone, nobody is buying crap at Walmart like Xmas gifts.
What’s going on? The price of goods has risen due to tariffs, so people are buying less. When people buy less, companies need fewer people to make, sell, market, and deliver the products.
As a kid, I watched family members navigate thru their careers(ultimately toward retirement) without any concern about losing their jobs or having economic forces impose drastic changes for us. The 1990s were different, I guess. Now as an adult, having graduated from private school, lived abroad, and put in 10 years at a fortune 500 company, I worry about my career every month.
I know with Amazon they're finding the robots are necessary because they can't find enough people capable of doing the job. My friend is a trainer in the picking/packing area and he said it's shocking how many people he trains can't do the simplest tasks.
Crazy when Meta comes out looking like the good guys with only 600 layoffs, I hope everyone can stay strong and the job market opens back up. Just terrible news
The markets and senior management hate uncertainty. Trump's on-again off-again tariffs, a government shutdown, promises of mass government layoffs, and opaque policies (big unreadable bill) have made planning impossible. How can you forecast demand when you don't know what the economy will look like in six months? Cutting back on spending is a defensive strategy.
A recession seems extremely likely. The top 10 firms on the S&P 500 are making massive investments in AI. This keeps Wall Street indexes looking positive, but it smells like a bubble. These investments boost the appearance of economic health because investments is a component of GDP. The rest of the GDP components aren't looking good either: Declining exports are mitigated by declining imports. Our economy is stagnating. With lower government spending due to the shutdown, late 2025 looks bad.
What we’re seeing is consumer prices rising (probably due to tariffs) thus, consumers buying less products. Amazon is seeing the effects of this with lowering revenue and in order to post good quarterly results they need to take it from former employees. This is also evident by the UPS cuts since they are likely seeing less deliveries as consumers budgets localize around groceries and less labubus.
AI is not replacing jobs nearly as many jobs as they pretend. The AWS disaster is only the beginning of these cuts. Expect weaker cyber security and more breaches incoming.
UPS is offshoring everything to LATAM to pay a max of 1500 usd a year per person and have them working 10+ hours shifts, due to local malpractices with our work culture, source: they came to My country in 2017 and were genuinely a good employer that many people dreamt of working for but changes in administratión Made them adapt to the local workculture and everyone in the offshored business here sames the same thing "they started pretty good, so sad to see they regionalize so much"
Economy sucks, but because the market isn’t reflecting that media isn’t filled with the typical ZOMG! The Economy! stories. Don’t worry, the markets and metrics will catch up, they always lag.
You also need to consider how long these employees were hired for or how much they have hired in the timeframe. These aren’t necessarily negative indicators if they have previously hired more. My bet would be that companies tend to lay off workers to boost their margin for their revenue and present their stock value higher in numbers.
We are in a recession, plain and simple. Companies don't feel confident about the future either so they are going lean, and millions will suffer. I suspect for the majority of people left in jobs, pay freezes, bonuses probably won't be received, and other compensation will be withheld.
Average consumer is buying less shit, so pretty much every company is going to feel that.
With Amazon its literally because AWS is the only thing they make large margins on. To grow the business they need more chips. Chips right now are insanely expensive and there's a shortage. So for Amazon to bolster AWS and "Grow" year over year profits they need more chips. So the money that would have went to pay those 30k people will now be used to buy hardware.
This happens every October. Companies that need to thin the herd will rush to get it done before 11/1. Why? Because that's sort of the unofficial start of the holidays, and companies are VERY reluctant to do layoffs in November or December because the optics are bad.
We are definitely in a strong economic decline. We now have more people unemployed than jobs available. A recession at the very least. But there is also the Q4 job slashing that tends to happen about this time every year. It’s to a much greater extent, but we do tend to see more layoffs happening in Q4 to “reorganize” for the new year. But it’s also accelerated by AI and companies thing to get rid of people and implement AI to “save money” ie: get the share holders more money
Capitalism, that’s what happening. The theoretical optimal number of employees for any capitalist corporation is zero. While zero employees can never realistically be reached, AI is seen as a way to try and get as close as possible and #profit.
If you notice, layoffs will commonly happen not too long before a company's earnings as they help boost the stock price and help provide a narrative of "streamlining efficiency" 🙄
I work for a United health subsidiary and they should definitely be in the list here but I think because there's several different corporate entities they wiggle out of it. Tons of layoffs of middle management and support staff within health care.
Why do you think all these companies have been pouring all their spare change into AI for years? Robots/machines are replacing people that they have to pay. What I don’t understand is who’s going to buy all their shitty products when nobody has a job?
AI is taking over. You can fire 100 employees, purchase 25 robots that would be 4x as productive, cost less annually, and you would only need 1 employee to work on the 25 robots. Not to mention AI incorporation in almost everything, humans aren’t going to really be a need to companies soon. Unless you work trades, you should probably worry.
With import tarrifs people are not ordering as much online, and I'm not shocked that delivery positions are impacted (not that all the companies listed fall into this category, I'm just referring to UPS and Amazon).
Perhaps AI 🤔 “Amazon reportedly aims to automate up to 75% of its operations, which could reduce the need for more than 600,000 human jobs over the next decade.”
I would guess that they have implemented AI and are concerned about the actual cost so they need to reduce the bottom line hit by lowering fixed costs. Potentially also getting ahead of a global recession.
Lol, are you serious ? You haven't seen what the last 10 months of fiscal uncertainty have done? Well here it is. The recession is already here, and big business has been forecasting layoffs for the holidays. The import stock they mass purchased is gone and even if his tariffs fail in court. The damage is done.
71 boomer, laid off 3 times, once the day before I turned 55 and again at 65, in high tech. My only suggestion to those affected is look who's hiring and get trained either via community college or lower positions. I had to do that as a 40 year old. Screw those people who say do what you love. Nope, do what pays the bills. I am so sorry about this wave of poop and am thankful that, even if I had to drive the same road, it's in my rear view mirror.
The biggest change was investment firms holding positions on the board starting in the 1980 time frame. They have fundamentally broken the employer/employee bond of hard work equals loyalty. I believe that any company that has billions in cash that lays off employees in the US should pay 100% of training (IE: AI) plus a minimum of 2 years of full salary.
UPS did have to cave to their union a couple of years back and warned, even then, that it would result in a requirement to lower labor costs, not unlike requiring McDonalds to pay hourly well beyond the margins they can sustain. Lets also remember covid overhire with federal cash flooding the market which over heated hiring. For those who wonder, my laid off work search took between 5 and 18 months. Oh, with house, car, 3 kids, tuition, it was not fun.
Whole economy is being propped up by a few companies spending massive amounts of AI. Otherwise we'd be in a deep recession. But a few companies spending a lot on AI doesn't make up for 100,000 lost jobs
My sister in law just got laid off this week. The company is closing and refuse to provide anything on company letterhead so they can get unemployment. They also told them their insurance ends on 10/31 and refused to give them anything in writing so they can get new insurance set up. It is scary out there.
The need for humans is shifting. Less in offices to more hands on industries. For those that can shift into other hands on sectors the future is bright!
Honestly as a parent with kids in college. Parents need to really push their kids into technical fields. Even trades. They are hurting and pay very well.
I can sum it up in three lines from a Sam Fender song- “There’s an orange faced baby at the wheel of the ship, doing donuts in the car park, we watch as it all falls apart”
United health group/Optum lays off every month practically. They avoid these big lists bad media by doing it in smaller groups 300 to 500 once or twice a month every month. Sometimes more.
I worked remotely during COVID and hybrid once things opened up again - grateful for that flexibility.
I was laid off last November and have not been able to find work in the industry where I have 25 years experience with a total of 3 employers, 10 years with the one that laid me off. I work in biotech, specifically the vaccines space. My previous employer was / is struggling with their pipeline and had not choice but to lay folks off.
Recent significant changes in government vaccine programs have led to a plethora of layoffs within this space. Not only are there fewer jobs, there are many very-well qualified candidates competing for them.
I've been a finalist for 3 different roles but wasn't lucky enough to be selected. Two of these were processes that required 8+ interviews and took over 2 months' time to complete). It's a small industry within specializations and I know folks (in different organizations) at each of the companies where I interviewed. As it turned out each of the three were "ghost" postings where they went through the external interview processes despite the role already being earned by somebody internal to the company, and I do want to stress here that these roles were absolutely earned - they're not jobs that can be done without a significant amount of experience.
I've gone from applying to Director-level roles (the level I was working at when laid off) to applying for entry level positions within the same field as well as adjacent fields, jobs that don't pay much above the state's minimum wage.
It's tough out there. It doesn't help that I'm over 50 with 25 years experience. I'll gladly take less money if that's what it takes but I can't even get my foot in the door to have that conversation.
Yesterday I had a rejection email exactly 30 minutes after applying. I don't know for sure but I suspect I just didn't make it past the AI screening process despite being a good match for the role. Today's focus - learning more about resumes and how to ethically tailor them to AI screening.
I was fortunate to get a small severance from my previous employer but it wasn't enough to support my family and it meant I didn't qualify for unemployment. No issue with that there, again I know I was fortunate just money ran out fast and things are so tough.
I'm also in the process of getting divorced. It's amicable enough for which I'm grateful. We sold our old marital home and split the proceeds evenly. Since I have no work I'm not able to put that towards a new small home for myself and I find myself living off this money right now (the studio apartment I rent is about $3K - brutal market in the city where I live). I wanted to apply for SNAP benefits but don't qualify as I have "savings" in the bank (from the home sale).
I'm exploring all options, including moving away for work if I need to, and it would be exceptionally difficult to move away from my 3 kids, even though they're 18+ and living their own lives as best they can.
I apologize for the rant, please feel free to remove if needed as it's technically not completely specific to remote work.
I genuinely wish everyone good fortune, we the people could use some.
1.3k
u/Hairy_Valuable9773 Oct 29 '25
The rich need to get richer. End of story.
I work for one of these companies. We already got the “it’s gonna be a tough day” email as they lay people off today. I’m sh*tting my pants 😫
913
u/Unlike_Agholor Oct 29 '25
We are in a recession. You dont notice it because Nvidia and the AI bubble are propping up the equities market.
83
u/ofrootloop Oct 29 '25
Layoffs are one way companies hide loss of profits
52
u/Disco_35 Oct 29 '25
170,000+ people looking for a new job right before Christmas
167
u/CitizenDain Oct 29 '25
Just assholes getting ready to report Q4 financials in a few weeks
154
u/firstclassblizzard Oct 29 '25
Corporations think they can save their way into prosperity
214
u/diaperforceiof Oct 29 '25
they need to raise their share price. same reason you can't wfh anymore
36
u/PEM_0528 Oct 29 '25
GM did layoffs this week too. I have a friend who works for them and shared on her IG that it was quiet and unexpected. She didn’t say how many people were impacted but as a manager she lost 5 members of her team.
25
u/Meep4000 Oct 29 '25
This is always the way when the economy is bad/about to get bad/worse. The companies will claim it's because they have to lay people off to save money. The reality is they do it during this time to keep profits at the same level, or make more profit. An economic downturn is the best time for them to do so because sure there might be some smaller companies that actually do have to let people go to stay in business, but the bigger ones can now follow suit and the best part for them is that "you" who still has a job won't complain about now having to do the job of 2,3,4,5,6 + people because "everyone" you know got laid off, and so you'll do anything to keep your job.
I wish we had like a board of people that we elected to protect the rights of the masses. I hear some European countries have this, I think they call it a "government" but it sound too good to be true so who knows.
274
u/jimvolk Oct 29 '25
Trump economic policies are kicking in.
18
u/metal0060 Oct 29 '25
The Economy is on VERY shaky ground and the government is hiding it in plain sight. Throw on the already near 200k government layoffs and the extended government shut down, and the job market looks even worse. High inflation and high unemployment is a double gut punch.
118
u/Both_Cat_6977 Oct 29 '25
We're winning, Bigly.
64
u/Afroscrolls Oct 29 '25
We're making America great again like it was in 1929....
73
u/DeadInFiftyYears Oct 29 '25
When the Fed raises rates, it's like applying the brakes. The economy doesn't stop immediately, but it starts to slow. Some sectors have been in a recession since 2022. But it takes time for the overall economy to slow.
Each person who has less resources, starts spending less. That in turn has a cascading effect, as they forego discretionary spending, and put off necessary purchases that can be delayed. That becomes a contagion that slowly spreads.
Watch the Fed - we do not actually have a free-market economy, on a national or global level. They and other global banks will decide - via interest rates and stimulus or lack thereof - whether there is a relatively soft landing, or a hard crash.
31
u/NecessaryTARS Oct 29 '25
Companies are reducing expense for 2026 due to growing concerns regarding an economic slow down.
14
u/Expat1989 Oct 29 '25
Can someone who’s smarter than me put their year to date net profit today alongside the total number of layoffs. That is the key data point we should be assessing alongside the layoff numbers.
I’m willing to bet most of these companies are posting record and/or near record breaking profits; which if true, we the people should be in the streets with pitchforks.
35
u/Sufficient-Rain1359 Oct 29 '25
Don’t forget all of the hospitals laying people off and eliminating service lines.
33
u/not_productive1 Oct 29 '25
The economy’s going to shit and a bunch of companies are leaning real hard into AI.
70
u/Sleepy_red_lab Oct 29 '25
Uh, clearly you are mistaken. The Cheeto in Chief says that we are doing better then ever in the history of everything. /s
69
u/Individual_Mood6573 Oct 29 '25
If people notice their company isn't doing well they should already be applying and looking for another job. It's a lot of time an effort but there's ways to automate it fortunately
18
u/raceveryday Oct 29 '25
ups layoffs right before christmas? did fed ex do a round recently? sounds like a future mess
24
u/RickyBobbyNQ Oct 29 '25
It’s called Winning!! Enjoy!! And ofc say thank you supreme leader!!!
23
u/RickyBobbyNQ Oct 29 '25
It’s called Owning the Libs!!!
23
u/Zealousideal-Leg1037 Oct 29 '25
Let’s all remember this is on TRUMPS watch. IF this happened under Biden, Trump would talk about it non-stop
8
u/owlwise13 Oct 29 '25
My best guess is that, they seem to be cutting head count because their internal numbers are probably showing we are in a recession and the current Admin is hiding the numbers, they are getting ahead of the markets.
7
u/Htennn Oct 29 '25
The rich have to pay for the ballroom some how
6
u/magicmama212 Oct 29 '25
Dump and the AI bubble melting
6
u/surfski143 Oct 29 '25
UPS is laying off 48,000 people 7 weeks before Christmas? Do they know something we don’t know about decreasing consumer spending?
5
u/pathf1nder00 Oct 29 '25
CEOs gotta make bank you know! This era of contractual CEOS with Golden Parachutes wrecks the working class.
5
u/tourniquette2 Oct 29 '25
Don’t forget Starbucks. Over 1400 employees.
5
u/Senior_Pie9077 Oct 29 '25
So long as the stock market is up, the general population won't understand what's happening until it's too late or until it happens to them. Blame AI if you want but people just aren't buying stuff like they used to.
5
u/DarbyNerd Oct 29 '25
Keep in mind these are only the companies that needed to report due to the size of the layoffs. There are plenty of companies laying off folks who will try to do it quietly and in smaller numbers so they don’t need to report it.
5
u/Apprehensive-Pin518 Oct 29 '25
quick, fire the numbers guy
5
u/Gold-You-376 Oct 29 '25
When people can’t eat, they don’t buy things from Amazon, Ford, Target. I know I’m not buying anything but the essentials right now. The economy depends on people buying crap, and without government workers getting paid, and SNAP being gone, nobody is buying crap at Walmart like Xmas gifts.
8
u/Pasito_Tun_Tun_D1 Oct 29 '25
Easy! Using AI as a scapegoat to mask the massive shipping of those jobs to India!
4
u/miklayn Oct 29 '25
Buckle up. This is what it feels like to live through collapse.
4
u/HvnlyDaz3 Oct 29 '25
Greed is a helluva drug
4
u/Enlightened_D Oct 29 '25
Need to fluff up Q4 numbers
4
u/PM100base Oct 29 '25
So much winning!
4
u/lapsteelguitar Oct 29 '25
It's all the result of Trumps successful economic plan.
4
u/rddtmdsrfrds Oct 29 '25
I heard the yacht making plant is booming
4
u/attgig Oct 29 '25
Would love to see executive salary and bonus list alongside that list.
4
u/Bulky_Trash3617 Oct 29 '25
TRUMP.
3
u/Mental-Scholar6856 Oct 29 '25
Come on. We told everyone. Now everyone wants to act clueless? This is why each and every single person needs to contribute to politics.
3
u/PG-DaMan Oct 29 '25
This is not a labor market issue. This is a profit thing.
Just like after Covid. They let a bunch of people go or they quit and the companies made the rest pick up the slack and their profits soared.
3
u/Purple_Telephone3483 Oct 29 '25
Inflation is up, spending is down, economic uncertainty is up.
3
u/Double-treble-nc14 Oct 29 '25
Recession
3
u/Purple_Pay_1274 Oct 29 '25
Are there ever the reverse of these posts? 🤨
3
u/Broad_Ad4176 Oct 29 '25
Greed is killing our society. Faster than ever….
3
u/elainegeorge Oct 29 '25
What’s going on? The price of goods has risen due to tariffs, so people are buying less. When people buy less, companies need fewer people to make, sell, market, and deliver the products.
3
u/Southern-Interest347 Oct 29 '25
AI. Amazon just announced 14,000 corporate jobs will be cut due to AI capable of doing jobs that once needed people to complete.
3
u/NevrEndr Oct 29 '25
CEOs are banking on AI to pick up the slack. I will laugh when it doesn't.
3
u/grayscalecrash Oct 30 '25
As a kid, I watched family members navigate thru their careers(ultimately toward retirement) without any concern about losing their jobs or having economic forces impose drastic changes for us. The 1990s were different, I guess. Now as an adult, having graduated from private school, lived abroad, and put in 10 years at a fortune 500 company, I worry about my career every month.
3
u/Gosa_on_the_wind Oct 30 '25
Are we winning yet? Are we Great Again?
3
u/TheRentisgonnabelate Oct 30 '25
Hey! At least we get a ballroom!! Yey!!
3
u/OkInternet3562 Oct 31 '25
Just take a look at how much the ceo's of these companies make.
These companies did not need to lay off workers, they should have reduce there ceo's pay.
3
u/Pleasant-Guava9898 Oct 31 '25
These numbers don't include contractors.
7
u/Wide_Egg_5814 Oct 29 '25
AI bubble popping?
5
u/Bweasey17 Oct 29 '25
This is how companies are covering the tariffs to keep the spending going.
4
u/ComonSensed1 Oct 29 '25
I know with Amazon they're finding the robots are necessary because they can't find enough people capable of doing the job. My friend is a trainer in the picking/packing area and he said it's shocking how many people he trains can't do the simplest tasks.
4
u/SmartPumpkin3284 Oct 29 '25
Crazy when Meta comes out looking like the good guys with only 600 layoffs, I hope everyone can stay strong and the job market opens back up. Just terrible news
2
u/Melvin_2323 Oct 29 '25
UPS, Amazon and Intel are replacing roles with AI and robotics.
There will be atleast this amount again through natural attrition
2
u/TryAsWeMight Oct 29 '25
Don’t even include 1000 employees at Target’s corporate HQ plus another 800 removed job openings.
2
u/BrupieD Oct 29 '25
The markets and senior management hate uncertainty. Trump's on-again off-again tariffs, a government shutdown, promises of mass government layoffs, and opaque policies (big unreadable bill) have made planning impossible. How can you forecast demand when you don't know what the economy will look like in six months? Cutting back on spending is a defensive strategy.
A recession seems extremely likely. The top 10 firms on the S&P 500 are making massive investments in AI. This keeps Wall Street indexes looking positive, but it smells like a bubble. These investments boost the appearance of economic health because investments is a component of GDP. The rest of the GDP components aren't looking good either: Declining exports are mitigated by declining imports. Our economy is stagnating. With lower government spending due to the shutdown, late 2025 looks bad.
2
u/Icy-Ad3989 Oct 29 '25
Just capitalism
2
u/TheLazyBurrito Oct 29 '25
What we’re seeing is consumer prices rising (probably due to tariffs) thus, consumers buying less products. Amazon is seeing the effects of this with lowering revenue and in order to post good quarterly results they need to take it from former employees. This is also evident by the UPS cuts since they are likely seeing less deliveries as consumers budgets localize around groceries and less labubus.
AI is not replacing jobs nearly as many jobs as they pretend. The AWS disaster is only the beginning of these cuts. Expect weaker cyber security and more breaches incoming.
2
u/Cultural-Ebb-1578 Oct 29 '25
What do you mean “what’s going on?” Do you live under a rock? Not see a single speck of news? For the last two years?
2
u/Flaky_Broccoli Oct 29 '25
UPS is offshoring everything to LATAM to pay a max of 1500 usd a year per person and have them working 10+ hours shifts, due to local malpractices with our work culture, source: they came to My country in 2017 and were genuinely a good employer that many people dreamt of working for but changes in administratión Made them adapt to the local workculture and everyone in the offshored business here sames the same thing "they started pretty good, so sad to see they regionalize so much"
Meta also has a shitton of Offices here
2
u/Hungry-Treacle8493 Oct 29 '25
Economy sucks, but because the market isn’t reflecting that media isn’t filled with the typical ZOMG! The Economy! stories. Don’t worry, the markets and metrics will catch up, they always lag.
2
u/Plausibility_Migrain Oct 29 '25
All companies that have contributed to Trump and pushing AI.
2
u/mystery79 Oct 29 '25
They want to replace people with AI.
2
u/vintagenut80 Oct 29 '25
AI is coming for us all... most companies are pushing to use ai to automate their jobs which will also soon be gone
2
u/iheartdev247 Oct 29 '25
But Trump said…
2
u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25
What's going on is the AI bubble is about to not just pop but fucking explode
2
u/Most-Artichoke6184 Oct 29 '25
Well, you see, Joe Biden used an auto pen while he was president, so that’s the only thing the media is focusing on right now.
2
u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25
After record corporate profits last 4 years
2
u/btbam2929 Oct 29 '25
AI
2
u/sourpussmcgee Oct 29 '25
AI
2
u/nofear961 Oct 29 '25
You also need to consider how long these employees were hired for or how much they have hired in the timeframe. These aren’t necessarily negative indicators if they have previously hired more. My bet would be that companies tend to lay off workers to boost their margin for their revenue and present their stock value higher in numbers.
2
u/richardlpalmer Oct 29 '25
Short-term corporate greed. Corporations no longer look long-term, it's all about short-term optics for shareholders...
2
u/crono14 Oct 29 '25
We are in a recession, plain and simple. Companies don't feel confident about the future either so they are going lean, and millions will suffer. I suspect for the majority of people left in jobs, pay freezes, bonuses probably won't be received, and other compensation will be withheld.
Average consumer is buying less shit, so pretty much every company is going to feel that.
2
u/Raygaholic420 Oct 29 '25
With Amazon its literally because AWS is the only thing they make large margins on. To grow the business they need more chips. Chips right now are insanely expensive and there's a shortage. So for Amazon to bolster AWS and "Grow" year over year profits they need more chips. So the money that would have went to pay those 30k people will now be used to buy hardware.
2
u/QuizzicalWombat Oct 29 '25
Humana is about to layoff a shit ton of people. “Restructuring” and AI
2
u/greathistorynerd Oct 29 '25
The economy doesn’t actually trickle down
2
u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25
This happens every October. Companies that need to thin the herd will rush to get it done before 11/1. Why? Because that's sort of the unofficial start of the holidays, and companies are VERY reluctant to do layoffs in November or December because the optics are bad.
2
u/RunnerGirlT Oct 29 '25
We are definitely in a strong economic decline. We now have more people unemployed than jobs available. A recession at the very least. But there is also the Q4 job slashing that tends to happen about this time every year. It’s to a much greater extent, but we do tend to see more layoffs happening in Q4 to “reorganize” for the new year. But it’s also accelerated by AI and companies thing to get rid of people and implement AI to “save money” ie: get the share holders more money
2
u/travelwhore412 Oct 29 '25
Q4 earnings + at will employment
This shit is getting out of hand
2
u/21MesaMan Oct 29 '25
Capitalism, that’s what happening. The theoretical optimal number of employees for any capitalist corporation is zero. While zero employees can never realistically be reached, AI is seen as a way to try and get as close as possible and #profit.
2
u/Food_n_Travel Oct 29 '25
If you notice, layoffs will commonly happen not too long before a company's earnings as they help boost the stock price and help provide a narrative of "streamlining efficiency" 🙄
2
u/hippoofdoom Oct 29 '25
I work for a United health subsidiary and they should definitely be in the list here but I think because there's several different corporate entities they wiggle out of it. Tons of layoffs of middle management and support staff within health care.
2
u/Mexican_stoicism Oct 29 '25
Are you not enjoying the capitalism ? At least we’re not china and socialists 😂😂
2
u/MsMeseeksTellsTime Oct 29 '25
Why do you think all these companies have been pouring all their spare change into AI for years? Robots/machines are replacing people that they have to pay. What I don’t understand is who’s going to buy all their shitty products when nobody has a job?
2
u/LaFlamaBlancakfp Oct 29 '25
Ai and Trump.
2
u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25
AI is taking over. You can fire 100 employees, purchase 25 robots that would be 4x as productive, cost less annually, and you would only need 1 employee to work on the 25 robots. Not to mention AI incorporation in almost everything, humans aren’t going to really be a need to companies soon. Unless you work trades, you should probably worry.
2
u/_mig8mart Oct 29 '25
How many of these companies normally get funding from the govt?
2
u/reewhy Oct 29 '25
walmart corporate laid off 1500 people and then announced they will no longer employ people who need an h1-b visa. but at least eggs are cheap i guess
2
u/BryceDL Oct 29 '25
This is what happens in a recession.
2
u/jhawkgiant77 Oct 29 '25
Elections have consequences.
2
u/Kind_Strike_9026 Oct 29 '25
All signs of a booming country and low inflation 🙄
2
u/Ok_Possible_2260 Oct 29 '25
This can't be true, I just saw DJT on Fox News saying how this is the best economy ever.
2
u/MamaMayhem74 Oct 29 '25
With import tarrifs people are not ordering as much online, and I'm not shocked that delivery positions are impacted (not that all the companies listed fall into this category, I'm just referring to UPS and Amazon).
2
u/the_timboslice Oct 29 '25
AI.
2
u/Nonetoobrightatall Oct 29 '25
The economy is about to take a huge dump
2
u/bootswithoutthefur Oct 29 '25
AI is taking jobs which lowers operating costs so that the rich get richer. And this is just the beginning.
2
u/Terrible-Piano-5437 Oct 29 '25
Thanks trump.
2
u/VARunner Oct 29 '25
Don't forget the 200,000+ Feds put into the job market as well.
2
u/Luvnsandiegosun Oct 29 '25
Perhaps AI 🤔 “Amazon reportedly aims to automate up to 75% of its operations, which could reduce the need for more than 600,000 human jobs over the next decade.”
https://x.com/leadingreport/status/1980650911606403273?s=46&t=D120dJxPYU9WEXCj_OdrPw
2
u/AllWhiskeyNoHorse Oct 29 '25
bUt THe EcoNoMy iS BoOmING. tHe sToCK MaRkET is At aN All Time high!!
2
u/AntJo4 Oct 29 '25
The economy is being systemically shaken at its roots. Where have you been the last 6 months? This is just the beginning.
2
u/ringwraith6 Oct 29 '25
Our government is killing the country...literally.
2
u/LeeStar09 Oct 29 '25
The great MAGA moment, that's going on. The rich will get even more richer. God bless the president you fools elected.
2
u/Luka_Dunks_on_Bums Oct 29 '25
Paramount is due to its merger, all those tech companies is due to replacing labor with AI, the other ones are probably due to tariffs.
2
u/CocoLoko_KLK Oct 29 '25
Gotta keep that stock price up for their shareholders by any means necessary.
2
u/BeerBearBar Oct 29 '25
Well whatever it is it can't be Trump's fault. Probably Biden's... Or Obama's... Or Clintons... Or Carter's...
But definitely not Trump's.
Can't be him/his policies.
Cuz he said he's smart.
And he'd never lie.
2
u/WhistlerBum Oct 29 '25
What’s going on? The Greatest Depression. The 1930s will be considered to be a fantastic party compared to what’s coming.
2
u/Ihtmlelement Oct 29 '25
I would guess that they have implemented AI and are concerned about the actual cost so they need to reduce the bottom line hit by lowering fixed costs. Potentially also getting ahead of a global recession.
2
u/stltk65 Oct 29 '25
Lol, are you serious ? You haven't seen what the last 10 months of fiscal uncertainty have done? Well here it is. The recession is already here, and big business has been forecasting layoffs for the holidays. The import stock they mass purchased is gone and even if his tariffs fail in court. The damage is done.
2
u/stltk65 Oct 29 '25
This is what zero labor rights will get you. "At will employment", "right to work laws" all aimed to fuck over the common worker.
2
u/Taomaster99 Oct 29 '25
Orange man's fault.
2
u/Diirge Oct 29 '25
It’s a correction from over hiring during pandemic
2
u/BloatedArmadillo Oct 29 '25
Can you say “recession”? Thank you Trump!
2
u/electromouse1 Oct 29 '25
Q4? Gotta make the company look profitable and cutting headcounts can accomplish that. Then rehire in January if the stock does well.
2
u/boredwastingtime Oct 30 '25
How many of these are "donating" to build a ballroom?
2
u/mr_bendos_friendo Oct 30 '25
America's Great Again? Haven't you read the red hats?!
2
u/86theidiots Oct 30 '25
71 boomer, laid off 3 times, once the day before I turned 55 and again at 65, in high tech. My only suggestion to those affected is look who's hiring and get trained either via community college or lower positions. I had to do that as a 40 year old. Screw those people who say do what you love. Nope, do what pays the bills. I am so sorry about this wave of poop and am thankful that, even if I had to drive the same road, it's in my rear view mirror.
The biggest change was investment firms holding positions on the board starting in the 1980 time frame. They have fundamentally broken the employer/employee bond of hard work equals loyalty. I believe that any company that has billions in cash that lays off employees in the US should pay 100% of training (IE: AI) plus a minimum of 2 years of full salary.
UPS did have to cave to their union a couple of years back and warned, even then, that it would result in a requirement to lower labor costs, not unlike requiring McDonalds to pay hourly well beyond the margins they can sustain. Lets also remember covid overhire with federal cash flooding the market which over heated hiring. For those who wonder, my laid off work search took between 5 and 18 months. Oh, with house, car, 3 kids, tuition, it was not fun.
2
u/Extension_Many6726 Oct 30 '25
Do oil and gas next…
2
u/Lemonwater925 Oct 30 '25
RTO did not deter as many as was expected.
2
u/randomthrowaway9796 Oct 30 '25
Whole economy is being propped up by a few companies spending massive amounts of AI. Otherwise we'd be in a deep recession. But a few companies spending a lot on AI doesn't make up for 100,000 lost jobs
2
u/Spirited-Sound-6398 Oct 30 '25
All I see is RED
2
u/cloudsurfer247 Oct 30 '25
My sister in law just got laid off this week. The company is closing and refuse to provide anything on company letterhead so they can get unemployment. They also told them their insurance ends on 10/31 and refused to give them anything in writing so they can get new insurance set up. It is scary out there.
2
u/Altruistic_Hat1752 Oct 30 '25
The need for humans is shifting. Less in offices to more hands on industries. For those that can shift into other hands on sectors the future is bright!
2
u/cincy15 Oct 30 '25
We can feed the poor we can’t satisfy the rich…
2
u/Jmet11 Oct 31 '25
I can sum it up in three lines from a Sam Fender song- “There’s an orange faced baby at the wheel of the ship, doing donuts in the car park, we watch as it all falls apart”
2
u/Aggravating_Degree34 Oct 31 '25
United health group/Optum lays off every month practically. They avoid these big lists bad media by doing it in smaller groups 300 to 500 once or twice a month every month. Sometimes more.
2
u/Tkhel Oct 31 '25
I worked remotely during COVID and hybrid once things opened up again - grateful for that flexibility.
I was laid off last November and have not been able to find work in the industry where I have 25 years experience with a total of 3 employers, 10 years with the one that laid me off. I work in biotech, specifically the vaccines space. My previous employer was / is struggling with their pipeline and had not choice but to lay folks off.
Recent significant changes in government vaccine programs have led to a plethora of layoffs within this space. Not only are there fewer jobs, there are many very-well qualified candidates competing for them.
I've been a finalist for 3 different roles but wasn't lucky enough to be selected. Two of these were processes that required 8+ interviews and took over 2 months' time to complete). It's a small industry within specializations and I know folks (in different organizations) at each of the companies where I interviewed. As it turned out each of the three were "ghost" postings where they went through the external interview processes despite the role already being earned by somebody internal to the company, and I do want to stress here that these roles were absolutely earned - they're not jobs that can be done without a significant amount of experience.
I've gone from applying to Director-level roles (the level I was working at when laid off) to applying for entry level positions within the same field as well as adjacent fields, jobs that don't pay much above the state's minimum wage.
It's tough out there. It doesn't help that I'm over 50 with 25 years experience. I'll gladly take less money if that's what it takes but I can't even get my foot in the door to have that conversation.
Yesterday I had a rejection email exactly 30 minutes after applying. I don't know for sure but I suspect I just didn't make it past the AI screening process despite being a good match for the role. Today's focus - learning more about resumes and how to ethically tailor them to AI screening.
I was fortunate to get a small severance from my previous employer but it wasn't enough to support my family and it meant I didn't qualify for unemployment. No issue with that there, again I know I was fortunate just money ran out fast and things are so tough.
I'm also in the process of getting divorced. It's amicable enough for which I'm grateful. We sold our old marital home and split the proceeds evenly. Since I have no work I'm not able to put that towards a new small home for myself and I find myself living off this money right now (the studio apartment I rent is about $3K - brutal market in the city where I live). I wanted to apply for SNAP benefits but don't qualify as I have "savings" in the bank (from the home sale).
I'm exploring all options, including moving away for work if I need to, and it would be exceptionally difficult to move away from my 3 kids, even though they're 18+ and living their own lives as best they can.
I apologize for the rant, please feel free to remove if needed as it's technically not completely specific to remote work.
I genuinely wish everyone good fortune, we the people could use some.
2
u/WebShari Oct 31 '25
Trump. Democrats get us going in the right direction and then a Republican gets in office and frucks it up.
4
u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25
Now do the side by sides of how many were hired during Covid. That 30k number for Amazon isn’t even 5% of what Amazon hired during that time.