For the last few weeks, Heidi Roberts' full-time job has been trying to find one. "I literally apply at jobs from 8:00 a.m. 'til five o'clock every day," she said. "And I think I've done about 56 to 60 jobs already. And I've only had seven callbacks. So, it's just been really disheartening."

She's been at it every day since October, when she was laid off from a financial company in Knoxville, Tennessee.

She said she didn't see it coming: "I had no idea, none at all," she said. "I never thought it would be me. It's just hard getting up in the morning sometimes, 'cause you really gotta pump yourself up to do it. And I keep thinking, 'Okay, this next interview, hopefully it's gonna go well.'"

Roberts' Christmas wish is not unusual this year. In 2025, more than 1.1 million Americans have been laid off, the most since the 2020 COVID pandemic (according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas). The layoffs have hit numerous industries and companies of all sizes (including our own parent company, Paramount Skydance). The largest cuts came from the federal government (followed by technology, warehouses and retail), with tens of thousands of cuts each.

"Those are numbers that we haven't seen outside of recessionary periods like COVID or the Great Recession in 2008," said Andrew Challenger, a senior vice president at research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks the job market. "It is a concerning stat, and everybody in the world is really paying close attention to it."

Asked why so many companies today are almost simultaneously cutting down on the number of workers, Challenger replied, "I'd say there's a couple stories that are going on simultaneously. One is that companies really over-hired in 2022 and 2023; we're seeing some economic headwinds, increased prices. And then the third piece is, we've really started to see companies discuss artificial intelligence as a reason why they're conducting job cuts at their companies."

Layoffs "perceived positively by the markets"

In the past companies laid off workers during periods of struggle. But Annie Lowrey, a staff writer with The Atlantic, says that's not what is happening now: "Corporate profits are very, very high," she said. "And if you look actually at businesses at how much their CEOs are making, it's just an enormous, enormous share. And I think that it reflects this divergence between the 1% and the 99%."

Lowrey says most layoffs aren't happening because companies are in the red, but because the future of the economy looks a bit gray: "Business leaders often like to blame uncertainty stemming from Washington. In this case, I think that they might actually really have a case. That might be the tariffs and the trade war, that might be the high cost of borrowing even if interest rates are coming down. Again, none of these in and of itself is enough to tip the massive and still quite vibrant American economy into a recession. But it's really leading to a pause that I think has now led to a freeze on hiring, and is now leading to more companies choosing to lay workers off."

And then there's the question about the impact of artificial intelligence. According to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AI already has the ability to replace nearly 12% of the labor market.

"The reality is, the tech is there; implementing and the practical application of that technology is still a ways away," said Jason Leverant, president of the national staffing company AtWork. He says when it comes to AI, at this point it's about keeping shareholders happy.

"If I'm a publicly traded firm, or otherwise, and I want to be perceived as forward thinking, I'm adopting cutting edge technology – 'Hey, we're leveraging AI, we're cutting expenses, we're cutting our overhead … unfortunately, that has to deal with layoffs,'" Leverant said. "That sells really well. It's really, unfortunately, perceived positively by the markets."

But while AI gets a lot of attention, the fact is it ranks sixth in reasons for layoffs, behind the overall economy and restructuring.

"It's a failure of your business model" 

For more than 50 years, Bob Chapman has been at the helm of Barry-Wehmiller, a global supplier of manufacturing technology. Founded in 1885, the company now makes nearly $4 billion in annual revenue, and has 12,000 employees.

Asked his response to companies who says their layoffs are necessary, Chapman replied, "First of all, I'd say in general, it's a failure of leadership. If your business model fails, your market changes, the challenges change, and you don't adapt to it or anticipate it, you're gonna hurt people, okay? So, it's a failure of your business model."

Chapman says layoffs should only be a last resort: "We dehumanize this by calling it layoffs, right-sizing, downsizing. We're actually destroying people's lives."

I asked, "But why should you, as a CEO, concern yourself with what happens beyond the walls of this plant?"

"Because I care about people, okay?" Chapman replied. "How can you run a company and not care about the people that are put in your span of care? And when you treat them as functions, you're saying they don't matter, it's just an economic transaction. And it is not just an economic transaction."

And last week, more news, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell lowering interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, motivated by a vulnerable job market. Powell said, "Gradual cooling of the labor market has continued. Unemployment is up three tenths."

Instead of adding jobs, Powell says we could be losing as many as 20,000 each month. This all has many Americans feeling less than jolly this holiday season, with layoffs expected to continue into the New Year.

But back in Knoxville, some good news. A few days ago, shortly after our visit, Heidi Roberts received the #1 item on her Christmas list: a new job. "I start January the 5th," she said. "So, New Year, new me, so I'm excited!"

It meant a pay cut, but she says these days any job feels like a gift.

With many Americans still looking for work, what would she say to those folks now? "I would say, keep on moving. Keep on pushing, do not give up, and just believe," Roberts said. "You will find the company. Just keep on believing, and pray. I'm very blessed."

     
For more info:

• Challenger, Gray & Christmas
• Annie Lowrey, staff writer, The Atlantic
• Jason Leverant, president, AtWork
• Bob Chapman, chairman, Barry-Wehmiller

      
Story produced by Sara Kugel. Editor: Carol Ross.

     
See more:

• When the employed are pushed into homelessness ("Sunday Morning")
• Trump's tariffs set America's economy, and the world, on edge ("Sunday Morning")
• Medical researchers, patients decry Trump admin's layoffs, budget cuts ("Sunday Morning")