Mass layoff warnings climb to highest level in nearly a decade

Mass layoff notices are climbing to unsettling levels, a new study has found, indicating that the labor market may be shifting away from the "low hire, low fire" phase described by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and toward an all-around weaker employment landscape.

According to a recent analysis by Goldman Sachs, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) alerts, which employers must issue before conducting mass layoffs , have ticked up in recent weeks. Outside of the initial spike which occurred during the pandemic, the bank said these are now at their highest level since 2016.

Why It Matters

The labor market has been largely frozen in 2025, with low levels of both hiring and layoffs leading to Powell’s "low hire, low fire" diagnosis in September. This equilibrium has given econom