U.S. January Layoffs: Worst Ever in 17 Years!

As we have been extensively reporting, several major companies globally have been laying off their employees at a highly aggravated rate. This is to be understood if we look at the fact that January 2026 witnessed history in terms of layoffs. 

Fundamentally speaking, U.S. companies have announced 108,435 layoffs in January which has gone up 205% from last December and the highest January total since 2009. 

The surge in layoffs was led by transportation sector with UPS planning up to 30,000 job cuts, and tech, driven mainly by Amazon’s 16,000 planned layoffs. Other tech giants like Oracle have also been lining up similar layoffs, if not worse. 

The fact that January 2026 recorded the highest number of layoffs in the month of January in the last 17 years is an indication that the year got off to the worst possible start for the working community. 

Reacting on this matter, leading employment expert pointed out “If you have a job right now, do everything you can to hold on to it. January layoffs were +205% vs December. This was the worst January since 2009

The market is going to be flooded with well qualified applicants who just lost their jobs. Simple supply and demand tells you that finding a new job or moving companies in this economy is literally going to become 10x harder.”