U.S. retailers increase layoffs in January as stores close
by February 12, 2025 3:19 pm 502 views
Retailers slashed 6,419 jobs in January, up 96% from the prior month and 20% higher than a year ago, according to a Feb. 6 Challenger, Gray & Christmas report. Challenger attributed about one-third of retail job losses to closures, with restructuring efforts accounting for 25% of the retail jobs lost.
Overall, U.S.-based employers announced plans to cut 49,795 jobs in January, up 28% from December, but down 40% from the prior year. Also, employers announced plans to hire 6,089 employees in January, up 13% from a year ago.
“January was relatively quiet in terms of job cut announcements,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “However, we’ve already seen major announcements in the early days of February, so it seems this quiet is unlikely to last.”
He said the retail sector ranks second behind technology with the most jobs lost in January.
“Retailers are coming off a successful holiday season, though in-store traffic fell on main shopping days like Black Friday, according to reports,” Challenger said. “The retail job has fundamentally changed, and with automation and online shopping, these positions require different skills than 10 years ago.”
The technology sector shed 7,488 jobs in January, up 128% from December. Challenger said tech companies have eliminated 406,679 jobs since 2022.
“Technology firms are being disrupted by AI integration, and many bellwether tech companies are discussing efficiency and productivity initiatives, which means additional cuts may be coming,” Challenger said.
Walmart recently confirmed hundreds of jobs would be eliminated as the retailer closes smaller corporate offices in North Carolina, Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto and requires employees to relocate to hubs in Bentonville or Sunnyvale, Calif.
Kohl’s plans to lay off 10% of its corporate workforce and close 27 underperforming stores and an e-commerce fulfillment center. Macy’s will close 66 stores this year as the retailer rethinks its store mix.