What are the prospects for laid-off workers?

For the last few weeks, Heidi Roberts' full-time job has been trying to find one. I literally apply at jobs from 8:00 AM to 5 o'clock every day. And I think I've done about 56 to 60 jobs already, and I've only had 7 callbacks. So it's just been really disheartening.

She's been at it every day since October--

Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors. Yeah.

--when she was laid off from a financial company here in Knoxville, Tennessee. Did you have any idea anything was happening? I had no idea, none at all. Didn't even see it coming. I never thought it would be me. It's just hard getting up in the morning sometimes because you really got to pump yourself up to do it. And I keep thinking, OK, this next interview, hopefully, it's going to go well.

Heidi Roberts' Christmas wish is not unusual this year. Good girl.

In 2025, more than 1.1 million Americans have been laid off, the most since the 2020 COVID pandemic. 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, with technology, warehousing, and retail following with tens of thousands each. Those are numbers that we haven't seen outside of recessionary periods, like COVID or the Great Recession in 2008. It is a concerning stat, and everybody in the world is really paying close attention to it.

Andrew Challenger is a senior vice president at the research firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, which tracks the job market. What is causing all these companies, almost simultaneously, to cut down on the number of workers they have? I'd say there's a couple stories that are going on simultaneously. One is that companies really overhired in 2022 and 2023. We're seeing some economic headwinds, increased prices. And then the third piece, we've really started to see companies discuss artificial intelligence as a reason why they're conducting job cuts at their companies. So in the past, companies have laid off workers during periods of struggle. Is that what's happening right now? Corporate profits are very, very high. And if you look, actually, at businesses, at how much the CEOs are making, it's just an enormous, enormous share. And I think that it reflects this divergence between the 1% and the 99%.

Annie Lowrey is a staff writer with TheAtlantic. She 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.

Jason Leverant is president of the national staffing company AtWork. How are you doing, man?

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. 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 on reasons for layoffs, behind things like the overall economy and restructuring. When companies say these layoffs are necessary, what is your response to that? 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 going to hurt people. So 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. How many employees do you have at the company? 12,000. 12,000. Chapman says layoffs should only be a last resort. We dehumanize this by calling it layoffs, rightsizing, downsizing. We're actually destroying people's lives. But why should you as a CEO concern yourself with what happens beyond the walls of this plant? Because I care about people. 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 the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, lowering interest rates by 1/4 percentage point, motivated by a vulnerable job market. A gradual cooling in the labor market has continued. Unemployment is now up 3/10. Instead of adding jobs, Powell says, we could be losing as many as 20,000 each month. [MUSIC PLAYING] 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. I start January the 5. January 5. Congratulations. Yes. So new year, new me. So I'm excited. [LAUGHS]

A few days ago, shortly after our visit, Heidi Roberts received the number one item on her Christmas list, a new job. It meant a pay cut, but she says these days, any job feels like a gift. There are still a lot of Americans looking for work. What would you say to those folks now? I would say, keep on moving. Keep on pushing. Do not give up. And just believe. You will find the company. There we go. Just keep on believing and pray. I'm very blessed.