Published October 31, 2024

U.S.-based employers announced 55,597 cuts in October, down 23.7% from the 72,821 cuts announced one month prior. It is 51% higher than the 36,836 cuts announced in the same month in 2023, according to a report released Wednesday from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The Challenger Report; Announced Job Cuts Jan 2021-Oct 2024

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

October’s total marks the seventh time this year job cut announcements are higher than the corresponding month one year prior. So far this year, companies have announced plans to cut 664,839 jobs, up 3.7% from the 641,350 cuts announced in the first ten months of 2023. It is the highest year-to-date (YTD) total since 2,162,928 job cuts were announced in 2020. Excluding 2020, it is the highest YTD total since 2009, when 1,192,587 cuts were recorded.

“Job openings have fallen and hiring is pretty flat at the moment. Companies appear to be in a holding pattern as we await election results and the potential regulatory and market environment that follows,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President and workplace expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Which Industries Are Cutting in October?

Aerospace/Defense led all industries last month with 18,465, primarily on Boeing’s announcement to cut 17,000 jobs. For the year, this industry has announced 29,526 job cuts, up 308% from the 7,720 job cuts announced during the same period last year.

“Major cuts from bellwether companies tend to have downstream effects which could mean more job losses for suppliers and customers in the near term,” said Challenger.

Retailers cut 7,696 cuts in October, the second highest for the month, for a total of 36,136 this year. That is down 50% from the 72,182 cuts announced through October 2023.

Consumer Products manufacturers cut 4,571 jobs in October. This sector has cut 33,865 cuts so far in 2024, up 2.7% from the 32,968 announced during the same period last year.

Which Industries Are Cutting This Year?

Technology leads all sectors this year with 120,470 cuts, down 24% from the 158,513 cuts announced through October last year.

Health Care/Products companies and manufacturers have announced 44,816 cuts through October, down 18% from the 54,429 cuts announced in the same period last year.

Percent Change in Announced Job Cuts YTD 2023 to YTD 2024

Despite drops in job cut announcements in the leading industries, several sectors have cut more jobs this year than last. Sixteen of the 29 industries Challenger tracks have cut more than 20% more jobs in 2024 than during the same period last year.

Media & News Cuts

The Media industry has announced 13,279 cuts so far in 2024, down 33% from the 19,881 announced in the first half of last year.

News, which Challenger tracks as a subset of Media and includes broadcast, digital, and print, has announced 3,520 cuts so far this year, up 31% from the 2,694 News cuts announced in the first half of last year and the most since 2020.

Announced News Cuts by Month and Year; January 2021 - October 2024

Why Are Companies Cutting?

Companies primarily cite “Cost-Cutting” for the reason for cuts this year: 144,332 cuts are due to this reason. Another 112,094 job cuts are due to store, unit, or plant “Closing,” while 109,705 are due to “Market/Economic Conditions.”

Hiring Plans in 2024

In October, employers announced plans to hire 266,743 workers, which includes seasonal hiring plans for Amazon (250,000) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (8,000). For the year, employers plan to hire 750,333 new workers, the lowest YTD total since employers planned to hire 724,510 in 2016.

Seasonal Hiring Plans in 2024 (Table 8)

Since September, US-employers have announced plans to hire 659,850 seasonal workers, the highest total since 2021 when 967,300 seasonal opportunities were tallied.


Contact Colleen Madden Blumenfeld for more data or to set up an interview with SVP Andy Challenger.

Contact Challenger for Media Inquiries

Download Full Report with Tables