By Reuters
March 3, 2025 – 5:17 AM PST
(Reuters) – U.S. companies have initiated layoffs across sectors as they attempt to streamline operations amid economic uncertainties, following similar cutbacks seen last year.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, from early February showed vacancies were down 1.3 million over the year at the end of December, while remaining above the 2019 average, suggesting that the labor market was slowing down but not abruptly.
| Sector | Company | Layoffs/Job Cuts | % of Total Workforce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer and Retail | |||
| Starbucks (SBUX.O) | 1,100 | 0.52% | |
| Brown-Forman (BFb.N) | 648 | 12% | |
| Kohl’s (KSS.N) | 9,600 | 10% | |
| Estee Lauder (EL.N) | 7,000 | 11.29% | |
| Amazon (AMZN.O) | 1,700 full-time | Unknown | |
| Walmart (WMT.N) | Hundreds of roles in North Carolina | Unknown | |
| Wayfair (W.N) | 730 in Germany | Unknown | |
| Aviation and Space | |||
| Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) | 1,750 | 15% of corporate roles | |
| Blue Origin | 1,400 | 10% | |
| Energy and Natural Resources | |||
| Chevron (CVX.N) | 8,000 | 20% | |
| Halliburton (HAL.N) | 290 | Unknown | |
| Lyondell Basell (LYB.N) | 400 | Unknown | |
| SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG.O) | 400 | Unknown | |
| Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) | Up to 700 | 1.70% | |
| Dow (DOW.N) | 1,500 | 4.17% | |
| Technology and Media | |||
| Meta Platforms (META.O) | 5% of “lowest performers” | Unknown | |
| Healthcare & Pharma | |||
| * UnitedHealth (UNH.N) | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Bio Rad (BIO.N) | Unknown | 5% |
Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; editing by Arpan Varghese