Automakers, retailers and technology companies will also cut salaries.
The layoffs announced by US-based employers have surged to the highest levels in March since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with government employment cuts accounting for most of the cuts.
Last month’s planned layoffs have increased by 60% and 205% from February, from a year ago when job cuts of 90,309 were reported.
Much of the cuts in March came from a decline in the public workforce as the Bureau of Action, which is related to government efficiency, is beginning to take effect in the US labor market. The government led all sectors with a job cut of 216,215 people.
“The Jobcut Announcement was dominated last month by a government efficiency agency (DOGE) plan to eliminate federal positions. Otherwise it would have been a rather quiet month for layoffs.”
The Challenger confirmed it has tracked the 280,253 cuts that announced cuts to federal workers and contractors affecting 27 agencies. Additionally, 4,429 layoffs stemmed from downstream effects of termination agreements and trimming of federal aid.
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Additionally, the report noted that researchers attempted to monitor the ongoing development of federal layoff programs.
“The Challengers did not count the total reduction in probation employees, so they did not include recalled probation employees in their recruitment totals. Some probation employees may have been included in individual agency layoff plans,” the report states.
The Trump administration has tried to eliminate thousands of probation employees, but a court application shows 24,000 people have been recalled.
Meanwhile, technology companies and retailers were next on the list, recording 15,055 and 11,709 cuts, respectively.
Overall, employers have announced employment cuts in 2025 in nearly 5025 since the first three months of 2009.
Challenger noted that several sectors have begun to respond to changes in US trade policies, affected by newly imposed tariffs.
For example, the automaker has announced nearly 7,200 layoffs this year. This was an increase of 28% from the first quarter of the previous year. Retail significantly reduced its positions of nearly 58,000 from January to March, up 370% from the same period last year.
Recruitment plans have stagnated this year. Companies’ first quarter employment intentions were the lowest in the first quarter since 2012, down 16% year-on-year.
Looking at the labor market
The March employment report will be the main event on April 4th. It provides a cool yet stable snapshot of the US labor market amidst various policy changes in the administration.
Consensus forecasts show that 140,000 new jobs have been created last month, with the unemployment rate being changed to 4.1%.
So far, significant government layoffs have not been manifested in the broader economic data.
The first unemployed have set a 6,000 to 219,000, lower than the 219,000 people after losing their employment – the number of people applying for unemployment benefits after losing their employment – from forecasts for the week ending March 29th.
June 15, 2024, Employment Sign at a Restaurant in Columbia, Maryland. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
In the private sector, businesses have accelerated their employment efforts.
Payroll Processor ADP reported that private companies added positions of 84,000 to 155,000 upwardly adjusted in the previous month. This will result in a market estimate of 105,000.
Recent SME surveys have shown that there are some expectations for the US economy.
According to Michael Seifert, CEO of Publicsquare, economic trust among small businesses is rising.
“These businesses are moving significantly from the dark to the boom,” Seifert said in a statement. “These are the sentiments of America’s frontline small businesses. We can’t find these survey respondents in the Corporate Boardroom in Manhattan or C-Sweets in Silicon Valley, but they are located on main streets in towns across the United States.”
Both studies suggest that inflation remains the biggest concern for employers.
