Amazon, UPS Lead U.S. Layoff Wave

Major U.S. employers have announced large rounds of job cuts, with some trackers estimating cumulative reductions near 1 million so far this year. Amazon will eliminate roughly 14,000 corporate roles — including about 1,540 in California and 760 in Southern California (Irvine, Culver City, San Diego and Santa Monica) — with layoffs scheduled to begin Jan. 26, 2026. UPS has cut roughly 48,000 jobs, and Target is eliminating about 1,800 corporate positions. Companies and analysts attribute many reductions to shifts toward automation and investment in artificial intelligence, corporate restructuring, rising operational costs and changing consumer demand, and the wave spans tech, retail, manufacturing and logistics with multiple plant closures and thousands of positions lost in states including California, Texas, Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin. Observers say the announcements are raising worker anxiety and could presage broader labor-market weakness, though some analysts caution there is not yet clear evidence of a sustained nationwide surge; smaller employers such as nonprofit PeaceHealth plan to cut about 241 positions in Washington as part of a roughly 2.5% workforce reduction.