Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been targeting federal agencies since President Trump’s inauguration, laying off thousands of workers. Those efforts are now showing up in employment numbers according to employee outplacement Firm Challenge, Gray, and Christmas.
“Job cut announcements were dominated last month by Department of Government Efficiency plans to eliminate positions in the federal government,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president for the firm, said in a press release today. “It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs.”
According to Challenger, U.S.-based employers announced 275,240 job cuts in March, a 60% increase from the 172,017 cuts announced a month earlier. That is up 205% from the 90,309 cuts announced in the same month in 2024.
DOGE hollowing out of government agencies has been attributed to 280,253 layoff plans of federal workers and contractors impacting 27 agencies, according to Challenger tracking. Another 4,429 job cuts have come from the downstream effect of cutting federal aid or ending contracts, impacting mostly non-profits and health organizations.
March’s total is the third-highest monthly total ever recorded. The highest monthly total occurred in April 2020 when 671,129 cuts were recorded, followed by May 2020 with 397,016. It is the highest total for the month of March on record, since Challenger began reporting on job cut plans in 1989.
Government jobs were hit hardest in March, but other sectors experienced non-DOGE related downsizing. Industries like technology, retail, automotive, and media also experienced downsizing.
Challenger attempted to track the federal layoff plans that were rescinded and found 3,972. This figure was included in the report’s hiring plans. It is unclear if all workers who were recalled returned to their positions.
Challenger also categorizes job cuts by region. So far this year, the South has seen the least amount of job cuts, with the East (including the D.C. area) receiving the brunt of cuts.