THE GREAT AMERICAN JOBS PURGE: LAYOFFS TOP 1.17 MILLION AS CORPORATE AMERICA TURNS ON ITS OWN

The pink slips are flying, and Main Street's getting gutted again. Over 1.17 million layoffs in the United States so far in 2025, and no, this ain’t COVID 2.0. There’s no virus to blame this time—just the same corporate puppeteers pulling levers behind closed boardroom doors. The so-called “free market” is shedding workers like dead weight while the suits pop champagne for “restructuring wins.” We're witnessing a rolling jobs massacre, and the government’s wearing a blindfold. From telecom to tech, manufacturing to meatpacking, America’s working class is under siege. It's not a "cycle." It's a controlled demolition—and you’re the collateral. LAYOFFS HIT 1.17 MILLION—NO PANDEMIC, NO WAR, JUST STRATEGIC ABANDONMENT The numbers are in, and they’re biblical. According to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, job cuts this year have surged 54% from the same period in 2024. Only four other years—2001, 2002, 2009, and 2020—saw more bloodletting by November, and all were tied to unmistakable crises: 9/11, the dot-com collapse, the housing crash, and the COVID shutdown. But 2025? No such scapegoat. Just the fallout from central banks jacking rates, corporate boards outsourcing loyalty, and Silicon Valley automating humanity one bot at a time. VERIZON FIRES 13,000: TELECOM SECTOR LEADS THE SLAUGHTER In November alone, the telecommunications industry slashed 15,139 jobs, the worst month since April 2020. And leading the charge was none other than Verizon, America’s communications backbone—now slashing 13% of its workforce. “Every part of the organization will be affected,” said a corporate memo that might as well have been ghostwritten by a hedge fund intern. And that’s the quiet part out loud: this isn’t a sector correction. It’s a hostile takeover of labor by capital. IT’S NOT JUST TECH: THE WHOLE DAMN ECONOMY’S BLEEDING OUT These job cuts aren’t contained. They’re spreading like rot through the beams of the American economy: Technology: Up 17% from 2024 Food industry: Up 26%—even beef producers can’t catch a break Services: Up 64%, the very backbone of domestic employment Retail: Thousands axed amid shuttered store fronts and boarded-up strip malls This isn’t some pandemic hangover. It’s the endgame of globalization—the working class hollowed out while executives hoard record bonuses and lobbyists grease Congress to look the other way. RESTRUCTURING: THE CORPORATE EUPHEMISM FOR ‘YOU’RE SCREWED’ Let’s break it down: 128,255 jobs lost this year due to “restructuring” 178,531 wiped out by store or department closures 245,086 eliminated due to so-called “market conditions” Translation? Corporate America is consolidating, slashing headcount not because of collapse, but to juice the bottom line. Mergers, private equity raids, AI upgrades—call it what it is: a transfer of wealth, from the hands of producers to the pockets of parasites. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE DIGITAL GUILLOTINE AI isn’t just transforming the workplace—it’s decimating it. 6,280 jobs in November axed due to AI 54,694 gone in 2025 alone 71,000+ since 2023 blamed squarely on algorithmic automation And those are just the jobs they admit. Behind the scenes, companies are using AI to eliminate everything from customer service reps to junior analysts. That “efficiency” you hear about? It’s the sound of white-collar America being replaced by code and compliance bots. And yet the media parades this as “innovation.” GHOST JOBS AND COLLEGE DEGREES: MORE ILLUSIONS SHATTERED It gets worse. Even for those still searching, the job market is a cruel farce. Up to 30% of listings are ghost jobs—phantom positions posted just to collect résumés or create the illusion of growth. And don’t think that college diploma is a shield. As of September, 25% of unemployed Americans hold a degree. The post-2008 illusion that education protects you from economic ruin? It’s over. That gap between college and high school unemployment? It’s the smallest since the 1970s. The “knowledge economy” promised an escape. Instead, it became a trapdoor. SMALL BUSINESS CAN’T BREATHE: THE DEATH OF MAIN STREET Not even 88 years of legacy could save K&W Cafeteria, which shuttered its last eight locations in early December. Thousands of small restaurants have disappeared since 2020—and they’re not coming back. Why? Soaring rents, inflated labor costs, shrinking margins, and a consumer base that’s been financially throttled. It’s a war of attrition, and Wall Street-backed conglomerates are the only ones left standing. MANUFACTURING IN FREEFALL: THE ECONOMY’S ENGINE IS STALLING For nine straight months, U.S. manufacturing has been in contraction. The ISM index now sits at 48.2, signaling a sector in retreat. Tariffs, supply chain chaos, weak demand—it’s all eroding the last bastion of American productivity. Historically, when manufacturing contracts this long, recession follows. But the Fed keeps pretending the “soft landing” is still within reach. Spoiler: it’s not. THIS ISN’T A LAYOFF SPIKE. IT’S A STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE Let’s be clear—this isn’t temporary. This isn’t about market corrections. This is the new model: Corporate consolidation eliminates middle management AI replaces support roles High interest rates choke investment Manufacturing retracts Consumer demand softens as wages stagnate Small businesses fold under debt and rent pressure The economic storm of 2025 isn’t some surprise squall. It’s the natural consequence of thirty years of elite-designed, banker-approved, politically-cosigned deindustrialization. THE FINAL TURN: JOB MOBILITY IS DEAD. THE SAFETY NET’S A MYTH. Forget what they told you about “reskilling.” The truth? The average American is caught in a rigged game. The job market of 2010–2020, where hopping jobs meant higher pay and a better life? That’s gone. In its place is an overcrowded, algorithm-managed battlefield where résumés disappear into the ether, HR bots send rejection emails, and “interviews” are automated simulations. And when the hammer drops, the same politicians who bailed out the banks will tell you to “learn to code.” CONCLUSION: THE REPUBLIC IS NOT IN A RECESSION—IT'S IN A CONTROLLED COLLAPSE We’re not waiting for a downturn. We’re living through a systemically engineered labor crisis—a stealth depression where Wall Street prospers while working Americans are rendered obsolete. So don’t let the pundits tell you this is “normal market behavior.” Don’t let the Fed gaslight you with soft-landing fantasies. And don’t let corporate media reframe mass layoffs as “strategic shifts.” Because what’s happening isn’t a cycle—it’s a betrayal. And the ones doing the betraying? They’re wearing $4,000 suits and sitting on billion-dollar cash piles, betting you’ll stay quiet. Prove them wrong.

THE GREAT AMERICAN JOBS PURGE: LAYOFFS TOP 1.17 MILLION AS CORPORATE AMERICA TURNS ON ITS OWN

Bill Brocius Dec 5

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