Companies around the globe have ramped up job cuts, with blue-chip firms from Amazon.com to Nestlé and UPS reining in spending, while consumer sentiment dims and artificial intelligence-focused tech companies start to replace business roles with automation.
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According to a Reuters tally, American companies have announced more than 25,000 job cuts this month, not including UPS’ 48,000 figure, which dates from the beginning of 2025. In Europe, the total tops 20,000, with Nestlé accounting for the bulk after last week’s 16,000-role reduction.
With economy-wide numbers on job cuts not available given the US government is in the middle of its second-longest shutdown in history, investors are paying extra attention to these anecdotal stories of lay-offs. That is even if year-end lay-offs are common and many of the eye-catching cuts will be stretched out over a prolonged period.
“Investors are asking themselves, what does this mean? And specifically, what’s the overall picture since we can’t see it?” said Adam Sarhan, CEO at 50 Park Investments in New York. Cuts like those at Amazon “tells me the economy is slowing down, not getting stronger. You don’t have mass lay-offs when the economy is strong”.
Amazon said it would cut up to 14,000 jobs from its corporate workforce, joining Target, Procter & Gamble and others in axing thousands of office roles. Reuters reported on Monday that as many as 30,000 Amazon jobs could be eliminated.
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The reasons for the cuts vary. Some, like Target and Nestle, have new CEOs eager to restructure their operations. Baby-apparel company Carter’s is slashing 15 per cent of office jobs, as it struggles with hefty import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
