Report: WA was third in the US for layoffs in January. What industries were hit?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Challenger Report says Washington had the third highest number of layoffs nationwide.
- U.S. employers announced 108,435 January job cuts, up 118% year-over-year.
- Information/tech dominated WARN notices locally as firms restructure and invest in AI.
Washington ranked third in the nation for the most job layoffs last month, according to a new analysis from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The report, released Feb. 5, states that January’s layoff numbers in the U.S. hit their highest total since 2009 amid the Great Recession. January also saw the lowest total hiring plans for that month to date since the firm started tracking such plans in 2009, an accompanying blog post says.
In Washington, 19,526 layoffs were identified this year to date, according to the Challenger Report published Feb. 5. That dwarfs the number of layoffs in the state over the same time frame last year, which logged fewer than 2,670 layoffs.
For January 2026, Georgia ranked first with more than 31,400 layoffs while Michigan came in second with over 19,700, according to the report. California was number four with nearly 8,300 layoffs and New York came in fifth with close to 4,900.
The report comes shortly after Amazon announced that it would shed 16,000 jobs. Here in Washington, the Big Tech giant’s home state, that translated to 2,198 layoffs, plus another 401 because of the company’s choice to shutter all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores.
Of note: The report counted layoff announcements according to the location of company headquarters unless individual location was specified, meaning that the data tilted toward headquarter states’ hefty layoff announcements, a Challenger spokesperson said via email.
Other corporate titans in Washington also announced job cuts last month.
Travel-tech company Expedia reported 162 layoffs, while Facebook parent company Meta planned for 331, according to the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD).
Paul Turek, a regional labor economist with ESD, pointed out that Microsoft has also pursued layoffs affecting the state. Many of these recent tech cuts pertain to the Seattle-King County area, the state’s tech center, as that sector reacts to the broader labor market and opportunities in AI, he said.
“So they’re repositioning themselves, and they’re making adjustments,” Turek said. “They are trying to be leaner and also changing the nature of their job framework.”
Some tech supporters emphasize that although certain jobs are lost in the movement toward AI, other jobs are being gained, Turek said.
Between December and January, Amazon listed the highest number of unique job postings at 2,126, according to the Workforce Index by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. Microsoft came next with 1,263 unique postings.
Still, the information industry has dominated recent worker adjustment and retraining notification (WARN) layoff notices, with 4,667 WARN layoffs in King County in 2024 and 6,857 in 2025, according to the index. Last year the sectors with the next-highest number of WARN layoffs were accommodation and food services (2,090) and retail trade (1,383).
In December, the state’s economy got a boost of about 9,000 jobs, according to ESD, while the unemployment rate ticked up slightly from 4.6% in November to 4.7% the following month.
Political parties weigh in on WA’s January layoffs
As far as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) sees it, January layoffs detailed in the Challenger report are a result of President Donald Trump’s economic decisions, and working families are struggling to get by while the commander-in-chief refuses to reverse course.
“He is doubling down on his ego-driven tariffs and offering no solutions to make life more affordable for everyday Americans,” DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer said in a statement. “When will enough be enough?”
The Challenger Report says that last month, U.S.-based employers flagged 108,435 job cuts representing a 118% spike compared with the same month last year (49,795 cuts). Among the leading reasons: contract loss, market and economic conditions, restructuring, closing, AI, and tariffs, per the report.
Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh disagrees with the DNC.
He told McClatchy in a call that not everything can be blamed on Trump or tariff policy. For example, he said, the tech sector is typically not hit by tariff policies, and he also referenced the industry’s broader push toward AI.
“I’m not saying the news is good; the news is not great,” said Walsh, who’s also a state representative. “But I don’t think you could link it to tariff policy.”
Amazon announced in a Jan. 28 blog post that the layoffs are part of a push to “strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” CNBC reported at the time that the move comes amid efforts to deeply invest in AI. In October, Amazon announced it was letting go of 14,000 corporate employees across its workforce.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
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