Big Companies—From CVS To Yellow Corp.—Laid Off More Than 65,000 This Summer

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More than 65,000 U.S. employees lost their jobs in major job cuts this summer, according to Forbes’ layoff tracker, as recession fears and economic uncertainty continued to prompt employers to re-adjust their head counts after more than 136,000 Americans were laid off in major layoffs over the first three months of the year (Forbes has been tracking the biggest layoffs this year).

CVS conducted one of the biggest rounds of layoffs this summer, along with Yellow Corp., FedEx and … [+] T-Mobile.

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Key Facts

The biggest round of cuts so far this year came at Yellow Corp., the transportation company that declared bankruptcy last month, letting go of all 30,000 of its employees, according to a statement from the Teamsters union, which had represented roughly two-thirds of its employees.

CVS Health last month slashed roughly 5,000 positions, representing less than 2% of its workforce, Forbes reported, though the cuts did not affect “customer-facing” employees at its retail pharmacies and clinics, while rival Walgreens also made cuts affecting up to 400 employees as it shut down an e-commerce center in Illinois.

Layoffs have also hit the technology and biotech industries hard over the past three months, with major reductions at Biogen (1,000 employees), Zendesk (500) and Spotify (200).

Cybersecurity company SecureWorks also cut roughly 300 employees, or 15% of its workforce, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, after it laid off another 9% of its staff in February, while Haven Technologies, which cut roughly 280 employees, and Maryland-based biotech company Emergent BioSolutions announced plans to cut 400 employees “across all areas of the company.”

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, meanwhile, slashed more than 1,000 positions in July, sources told the Wall Street Journal, while online brokerage Robinhood laid off roughly 150 employees.

T-Mobile also conducted a round of cuts affecting roughly 5,000 employees, or 7% of its staff, which CEO Mike Sievert attributed to a higher cost of attracting new customers, according to an SEC filing.

Manufacturing jobs have also been targeted in recent rounds of cuts, including at Ford, which reportedly cut up to 1,000 employees, General Motors, which reportedly cut 940 positions, and automaker Nikola, which unveiled plans in June to lay off 120 employees in Arizona and another 150 at “multiple sites.”

Last month, Tyson Foods conducted a round of cuts as it shut down four poultry facilities in Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri, while shipping giant FedEx implemented a round of layoffs affecting roughly 280 employees, and Anheuser-Busch parent AB InBev cut roughly 360 positions as its sales tanked over blowback to its decision to partner with trans star Dylan Mulvaney.

KPMG, a big-four accounting firm, slashed more than 1,900 jobs in June, following similar moves at Deloitte and Ernst & Young, while Goldman Sachs cut just under 250 employees—five months after it laid off another 4,000 employees.

News Peg

Last week, Farmers Insurance let go of roughly 2,400 employees—11% of its workforce—in a restructuring effort to prioritize “long-term profitability.”

Key Background

More than 136,000 U.S. employees lost their jobs in major rounds of layoffs over the first three months of 2023, with major ones at Amazon (8,000 positions eliminated), Google (12,000), Meta (10,000) and Microsoft (10,000)—Forbes tracked the biggest layoffs over the first quarter in 2023. Those cuts came on the heels of a series of layoffs that swept through manufacturers, banks and tech startups throughout the second half of last year, with more than 120 U.S. companies conducting major rounds of layoffs between June and December. Those layoffs also came as employers feared record inflation and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes could tip the economy into recession.

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