FOX Enterprise Grady Trimble reviews on the DOGE committee transition as Elon Musk says goodbye to the budget-slashing company.
Layoffs of U.S. employees had been practically 50% increased in Could than they had been a yr in the past, with reductions attributed to the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) remaining the main motive for job cuts this yr, based on a brand new report.
World outplacement Challenger, Grey & Christmas launched a report Thursday that mentioned there have been 93,816 job cuts introduced by U.S. employers in Could. That quantities to a rise of 47% from 63,816 introduced final Could, whereas final month’s determine was down 12% from 105,441 cuts in April.
That brings the entire variety of job cuts introduced this yr to 696,309 – a rise of 80% from the 385,859 jobs reduce within the first 5 months of 2024. This yr’s complete is simply 65,049 job cuts away from matching the 2024 annual complete.
“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,” mentioned Andrew Challenger, senior vp of Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
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DOGE was cited as the reason for 284,044 layoffs in 2025 to date. (Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The influence of DOGE was the main motive for job reduce bulletins in 2025, because it has been cited in 284,044 deliberate layoffs by way of the primary 5 months of 2025.
These figures embody each direct reductions within the federal workforce and contractors who work with federal companies. The downstream influence of DOGE, akin to non-public non-profits dropping entry to federal funding attributable to DOGE, was attributed to an extra 10,459 cuts, the report famous.
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DOGE cuts have been the main motive for layoffs in 2025 to date. (SAUL LOEB/AFP through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The second-most cited motive for workforce reductions had been market and financial circumstances, which had been attributed to 131,257 cuts this yr.
Closures of shops, models or vegetation led to an extra 94,439 layoffs; whereas restructuring accounted for 62,015 cuts and company chapter was attributed as the reason for 35,501.
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Elon Musk led DOGE’s cost-cutting push till his time as a particular authorities worker elapsed. (Picture by Samuel Corum/Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The report additionally famous that technological updates, akin to these associated to the implementation of synthetic intelligence (AI), have led to twenty,000 job cuts this yr thus far.
Employers have introduced 79,941 deliberate hires by way of Could 2025, which represents a rise of 57% from the variety of hires introduced at this level in 2024.
The report famous that whereas “companies have announced more hiring plans this year than last, it remains historically low when compared to pre-pandemic and early-pandemic years.”
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“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 mentioned.
