US employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, the lowest September total since 2022 and down 20 percent from the same month last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, whose monthly report landed on 1 October 2026. Inside that improving headline, artificial intelligence was cited as the reason for 3,961 cuts — about 9 percent of the month — and remains the most-cited single reason for job cuts year to date, named in 120,136 announcements, or roughly 21 percent of all cuts.
🔍 The Bottom Line
The year’s data keeps showing the same two-sided picture: total layoffs are falling while AI’s share of the cuts that do happen keeps climbing. Hiring plans sit 3 percent above 2025, but the usual pre-holiday hiring surge has been replaced by what the report’s author calls a “very cautious approach” — and that combination, not catastrophe, is what job seekers should plan around.
Layoffs Down, AI’s Share Up
Through nine months, US employers have announced 573,195 job cuts, down 39 percent from the 946,426 announced in the same stretch of 2025. It is the seventh month this year that cuts came in below the corresponding month of 2025, and the lowest January-to-September total since 2022. Third-quarter layoff plans fell 43 percent from the second quarter.
The AI number needs its context read carefully. In September, AI was the fifth-most-cited reason, behind market and economic conditions, closings, demand downturn and restructuring. But year to date its 120,136 attributions lead all reasons, at approximately 21 percent of all cuts — a share that has grown month after month even as the overall total shrinks. We tracked the same pattern through July, when AI led the reasons for a fifth straight month and August, when AI slipped back but hiring plans in manufacturing held up.
One honest caveat applies to all of it: Challenger counts announced cuts, and companies have public-relations reasons to label a restructuring “AI” rather than admit to over-hiring. The attribution share is a signal of how firms explain themselves, not a measured headcount of jobs AI eliminated.
Technology Still Leads the Cutting — and the Hiring
Technology companies announced 10,799 cuts in September, up 77 percent from August, bringing the sector’s year-to-date total to 165,925 — up 54 percent on last year and more than any other industry. FinTech cuts are up 331 percent for the year. Transportation is up 190 percent.
Yet the same report’s hiring table tells the opposite story in part. Employers announced plans to hire 90,787 workers in September, and while the month stayed below last year’s 117,313, full-year hiring plans total 210,612 — up about 3 percent on 2025. Technology’s year-to-date hiring plans sit at 22,361, more than triple the 7,070 announced by the same point in 2025. Aerospace and defense, utilities and electronics all show hiring plans running at multiples of last year. The jobs being cut and the jobs being planned are, increasingly, not the same jobs — a pattern that echoes the New York Fed’s finding that AI reshuffles skill requirements rather than deleting roles outright.
The Missing Holiday Surge
The detail Andy Challenger flagged hardest is what has not happened. Retail announced 65,150 September hiring plans — by far the month’s biggest number, but 31 percent below retail’s count a year earlier, and no other industry shows the seasonal jump that normally arrives with pre-holiday staffing.
“Hiring plans are up over the year, but we’re not seeing the surge of hiring plans that come with the holiday season, which suggests a very cautious approach,” he said in the release. Employers, in his telling, are sitting in a wait-and-see posture — watching energy costs, the war in Iran, a possible rate hike and rising healthcare costs before committing to headcount. For workers, a low-layoff, slow-hire market is less dramatic than a bloodbath but harder to enter: fewer people are being pushed out, and fewer doors are opening.
What New Zealand Can Take From It
New Zealand’s labour market has spent 2026 in its own low-fire, low-hire mode, with unemployment at a nine-month high of 5.3 percent. The Challenger data is a reminder that this pattern is not uniquely Kiwi and not uniquely about AI — it is what cautious employer behaviour looks like in statistical form. Where the US picture offers a hint of what comes next is in the skills mix: AI-attributed cuts concentrate in technology roles even as tech hiring plans triple, which matches what SEEK NZ’s August data showed locally — AI skills requested in a growing share of job ads even as total listings move unevenly. The practical reading for the career-compass reader is unchanged from our July analysis: the risk is not mass deletion of jobs but redefinition of them, and the reskilling window — the months while competition is quiet — is when the advantage gets built.
❓ FAQ
How many US job cuts were announced in September 2026? 43,281, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas — the lowest September total since 2022 and down 20 percent from September 2025.
How many job cuts has AI been cited in during 2026? 120,136 year-to-date announcements, roughly 21 percent of all cuts, making AI the most-cited single reason for job cuts so far this year.
Are layoffs rising or falling because of AI? Total announced layoffs are falling — down 39 percent year to date — while AI’s share of the cuts that do happen keeps rising. Both things are true at once, which is why analysts read the attribution carefully.
Were US hiring plans up or down in September? September hiring plans of 90,787 trailed last year’s 117,313, but year-to-date plans are up about 3 percent on 2025 — and the usual pre-holiday surge in retail hiring has been notably absent.
🔍 The Bottom Line
September’s report strengthens the case that “AI versus jobs” is the wrong frame. The cuts are smaller than last year, the hiring plans are slightly bigger, and the battleground is the skills requirement attached to each role. Cautious employers cut less and hire less; they also quietly rewrite what they are hiring for. That last part — not the headline totals — is where careers are actually won or lost.
📰 Sources
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas — September 2026 Job Cut Report
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas — July and August 2026 reports (prior Singularity.Kiwi coverage)
- New York Fed, Liberty Street Economics
- SEEK New Zealand Employment Report, August 2026
— CJ Murden, editor of Singularity.Kiwi. Former digital technologies teacher, author of AI-focused books. Writing with a New Zealand focus.
