Perhaps all those Walmart drones are making up for labor reductions: Retailers cut or announced plans to cut a whopping 75,802 jobs across the first five months of 2025, a new report finds.
That’s a 274% increase from the 20,276 jobs that were cut across the same time period in 2024, just last year.
Needless to say, it’s a bloodbath for anyone working in retail. The retail sector is now the second highest industry for job losses, behind only the US government. The tech industry placed third, with nearly 75,000 jobs cut within this industry.
What to Know About 2025 Job Cuts
The new data is out from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. According to the report, cuts aren’t just up for government positions, retail, or tech. In May alone, job cuts were up 47% from May 2024 across all industries.
What’s behind the massive uptick? Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, offered a few suggestions in a statement released with the report.
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“Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices.” -Andrew Challenger
The Reasons? DOGE, the Economy, Tech, and More
Plenty of reasons were given aross all industries for the rise in job losses. The biggest was the “DOGE effect,” the term that the report uses to refer to the top-down focus on cuts from the governmental administration that took office earlier this year. After that, however, reasons varied.
Market and Economic Conditions were the second-most cited reason, responsible for 131,257 cuts, according to the report. Other reasons were “restructuring,” and “bankruptcy.”
“Technological updates” made an appearance on the list, too, accounting for 20,000 in 2025 so far. AI implementation counts as one of those tech updates, though the retail industry might be more interested in the drone-based deliveries that are increasingly buzzy.
Hiring Plans Remain Low
Top retailers that announced job cuts in 2025 so far include Nike, Walmart, and the Procter & Gamble Company, notes Retail Dive.
Job cuts aren’t the full picture, but adding in hiring plans doesn’t make that picture much rosier. Through May, employers in the US have announced plans for 79,741 hires. That’s up from the 50,833 hires announced during this time period last year, but it’s historically low compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
“The current 2025 hiring pace is more aligned with 2012 (50,194 YTD) and 2013 (180,012 YTD) than with the rebound years of 2021–2022, suggesting that, while companies are adding workers, they are doing so cautiously,” Challenger said in the report.
