Sad female worker carrying her belongings while leaving the office after being firedLayoffs have been a defining feature of the job market in 2025, with several major companies announcing thousands of job cuts driven by artificial intelligence. In fact, AI was responsible for almost 55,000 layoffs in the U.S. this year, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.There were in total 1.17 million job cuts through 2025, the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when there were 2.2 mi ...