AI Adoption Pushed April Planned Layoffs to 3-Month High: Challenger

‘Technology companies continue to announce large-scale cuts,’ says a top workplace expert.

A store in Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 5, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) drove the highest level of planned job cuts in three months, new data released on May 7 show.

In April, U.S.-based employers announced 83,387 layoffs, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas. While this is up 38 percent from March’s 60,620 job cuts, the reading is down 21 percent from the same month a year ago.