Special Report
25 Biggest Layoffs in the Last Year
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The U.S. labor market has been in a sustained recovery. The nation has added jobs for 87 straight months — the longest streak on record, according to the Labor Department, and the unemployment rate has declined to 4.1%, the lowest rate since 2000.
For most American workers, these are good times. Jobless claims are at their lowest level since 1973. Job openings reached a record 6 million at one point in 2017. And 18 states are boosting the minimum wage in 2018. Yet even in flush economic times, there are some casualties in the labor force, and 2017 was no exception.
24/7 Wall St., working with global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., compiled a list of employers that announced the largest job cuts in 2017.
Click here to see the employers with the biggest layoffs in last year.
The job-chopping axe swung more often in retail than in any other industry last year. Companies in the sector that is under siege by the e-commerce revolution had announced 76,084 job cuts in 2017, a 28.2% increase from a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Of the 25 companies announcing job reductions, nine were retailers, and half of the top 10 largest job cuts were in the retail sector. The layoffs resulted from businesses either closing or taking cost-cutting measures.
Regardless of the industry, the two main reasons businesses laid off large numbers of employees were companies shutting down or making cost cuts.
Among the companies paring workforces last year were some of the great names in American business — Westinghouse, General Electric, Macy’s, and Hershey.
The public sector also implemented cost cuts that resulted in layoffs in education and government. Private defense contractors such as Boeing trimmed jobs in 2017.
24/7 Wall St. used data provided by Challenger, Gray & Christmas to compile a list of the 25 biggest layoff announcements in 2017. Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ sources for layoff announcements included filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, WARN notices (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act), company press releases, and media reports.
These are the 25 employers who trimmed payrolls the most in 2017.
Source: josefkubes / iStock
1. General Electric Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 12,000
> Date: December 8
> Industry: Industrial
> Reason: Restructuring
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Source: Joe Tabacca / Shutterstock.com
2. Macy’s Incorporated
> Number of announced layoffs: 10,000
> Date: January 4
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Demand downturn
Source: Cognizant Technology Solution / Wikimedia Commons
3. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
> Number of announced layoffs: 6,000
> Date: March 21
> Industry: Services
> Reason: Cost-cutting
Source: Bernd00 / Wikimedia Commons
4. J.C. Penney Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 5,550
> Date: February 5
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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Source: William M / Wikimedia Commons
5. HHGregg Incorporated
> Number of announced layoffs: 5,000
> Date: April 4
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Closing
Source: Wikimedia Commons
6. State Farm
> Number of announced layoffs: 4,200
> Date: May 6
> Industry: Insurance
> Reason: Closing
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Source: World Economic Forum / Flickr
7. Fluor Corporation
> Number of announced layoffs: 4,003
> Date: August 1
> Industry: Construction
> Reason: Closing
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Source: Phillip Pessar / Flickr
8. The Limited
> Number of announced layoffs: 4,000
> Date: January 9
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Closing
Source: Paul Sableman / Flickr
9. Eli Lilly and Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 3,500
> Date: September 7
> Industry: Pharmaceutical
> Reason: Restructuring
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Source: Windyshadow32 / Wikimedia Commons
10. Wet Seal Inc.
> Number of announced layoffs: 3,000
> Date: January 27
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Closing
Source: Gerd Fahrenhorst / Wikimedia Commons
11. Weatherford International Plc
> Number of announced layoffs: 3,000
> Date: February 2
> Industry: Energy
> Reason: Restructuring
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
12. Fidelity Investments
> Number of announced layoffs: 3,000
> Date: February 28
> Industry: Financial
> Reason: Cost-cutting
Source: Dollar Express
13. Dollar Express
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,800
> Date: April 3
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Acquisition/merger
Source: Thinkstock
14. General Motors Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,700
> Date: April 23
> Industry: Automotive
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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Source: mrkathika / Flickr
15. The Hershey Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,697
> Date: February 28
> Industry: Food
> Reason: Cost-cutting
Source: dcschools.com
16. Dallas County Schools
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,456
> Date: December 6
> Industry: Education
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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Source: jeepersmedia / Flickr
17. Lowe’s Companies
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,400
> Date: January 16
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Restructuring
Source: Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons
18. U.S. State Department
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,300
> Date: April 30
> Industry: Government
> Reason: Cost-cutting
Source: jat306 / Thinkstock
19. PHH Corporation
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,250
> Date: August 11
> Industry: Financial
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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Source: shani heckman / Flickr
20. Yahoo/AOL
> Number of announced layoffs: 2,100
> Date: June 15
> Industry: Technology
> Reason: Acquisition/merger
Source: The Boeing Co.
21. Boeing Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 1,800
> Date: March 3
> Industry: Aerospace/defense
> Reason: Buyout
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Source: Armin Kübelbeck, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons
22. Merck & Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 1,800
> Date: October 21
> Industry: Pharmaceutical
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
23. Marsh Supermarkets
> Number of announced layoffs: 1,535
> Date: May 1
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Bankruptcy
Source: Wikimedia Commons
24. Westinghouse Electric Company
> Number of announced layoffs: 1,500
> Date: September 20
> Industry: Construction
> Reason: Restructuring
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Source: pexels.com
25. Nike Inc.
> Number of announced layoffs: 1,400
> Date: June 15
> Industry: Retail
> Reason: Cost-cutting
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