Challenger job cuts report: October layoffs at a three-year low, and what it means for job seekers

Challenger, Gray & Christmas is an outplacement and executive coaching firm. Every month it counts the job cuts that U.S.-based employers announce publicly, and the hiring plans they announce. The Challenger job cuts report is not an official statistic, but it comes out before the government data and is widely followed. The October 2026 report shows:

Andy Challenger, the firm's workplace expert, calls it a "low-fire environment": employers are holding on to the workers they have, and the hiring they announce is mostly short-term, seasonal work.

• Food led October with 9,677 cuts, its highest monthly total this year (39,370 since January, up 43%).
• Technology announced 5,576 cuts in October, its lowest month of the year, but still leads 2026 with 171,501 cuts, 28% of the total. Microsoft also offered voluntary exits to 60,000 employees in October; Challenger does not count those offers as cuts.
• Services (staffing, cleaning, outsourcing) announced 5,458 cuts, FinTech 4,173, Retail 3,692 and Consumer Products 3,672.
• Transportation has the second-highest total this year, 44,838 cuts, up 188% on 2025.

By state, California led October with 10,032 cuts, followed by Washington (7,233), New York (4,671), Ohio (4,592) and Michigan (2,937). The West accounted for 46% of October's cuts. Since January, cuts are up most in Michigan (+89%) and Tennessee (+68%), and down in New York (-54%), New Jersey (-52%) and Georgia (-46%).

The reasons have shifted. Market and economic conditions were cited for 37% of October's cuts and are now the leading reason of 2026, ahead of artificial intelligence. AI was cited for 1,265 cuts in October, its lowest month this year, and for 121,401 since January.

The 444,692 hiring plans announced in October look strong, but they are concentrated. Amazon's plan to hire 300,000 seasonal workers is the largest single seasonal announcement Challenger has tracked, and UPS announced 100,000. Only five companies have announced seasonal hiring so far this year, against 11 at this point last year, and seasonal jobs make up 72% of all hiring plans announced in 2026.

Announcements also came later than usual: September 2026 had the fewest hiring plans for that month since 2011. If you want a holiday job, the big employers are hiring now. Our guide to seasonal jobs lists who is hiring and what they pay.

Fewer layoffs is good news if you have a job: employers are keeping staff. But a market where companies neither fire nor hire much for permanent roles is a slow one to enter or change. Each permanent posting draws more applicants, so the resume has to work harder.

1. Use a seasonal job as a way in. Retailers are trimming permanent roles and leaning on seasonal staff, so a holiday job is often the shortest route to an interview for a permanent one. Ask at the interview whether seasonal staff can stay on after January.
2. Target the sectors that are adding, not cutting. If you work in tech, food or transportation, look at the same skills in sectors with fewer cuts this year: Challenger lists 22 of its 30 industries below last year's level.
3. One resume per posting. Reuse the words of the job posting in your summary and experience, without inventing anything. Our guide to resume skills shows how to choose them.
4. If you were laid off, say it plainly. A layoff is not a firing. One line in your cover letter or at interview is enough: the company cut your team, here is what you delivered before that.
5. Claim what you are owed. Unemployment benefits are run by each state, with their own rules and amounts. Apply with your state as soon as your job ends, and keep a weekly log of your job search: the Labor Department wants stricter unemployment work search requirements. If you received a layoff notice, see what a WARN notice gives you. On an H-1B or another work visa, check your H-1B grace period the same day.

• Challenger job cuts report: layoffs that employers announce, counted by a private firm. An announcement can be spread over months, and some cuts are never announced.
• Weekly jobless claims: the number of people filing a first claim for unemployment benefits, published by the U.S. Department of Labor every Thursday. Initial claims were 189,000 in the week ending October 31, 2026, down from 195,000 the week before (seasonally adjusted).
• Jobs report (Employment Situation): the official count of jobs added and the unemployment rate, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. October 2026 comes out on Friday, November 6, at 8:30 a.m. ET.

We update this page with each new Challenger report.