Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Zety.com.
Layoffs in recent years often didn’t end after the first round.
Drawing on publicly reported data from Layoffs.fyi, Zety’s latest Repeat Layoff Index tracked U.S.-based tech companies that announced job cuts between 2023 and 2025 and revealed that a significant share returned for additional rounds of layoffs, in many cases within months of their first reduction.
Repeat Layoffs Are Widespread
What began as post-pandemic workforce corrections evolved into recurring layoffs for many companies.
From 2023 to 2025, 1,031 U.S.-based tech companies recorded at least one layoff event. Of those:
- 278 (27%) conducted two or more layoff rounds.
- 74 U.S. companies (7%) conducted three or more layoff rounds.
- Repeat-layoff companies accounted for 722 layoff rounds, representing nearly half (49%) of all layoff events recorded.
What this means: Layoffs during this period were rarely isolated decisions. Workforce reductions often unfolded as ongoing adjustments, with a relatively small group of companies responsible for a large share of total layoff activity.
Most Repeat Layoffs Happen Within a Year
For companies that conducted multiple rounds of layoffs between 2023 and 2025, the second cut often followed quickly.
Zety’s analysis found that 70% of repeat layoffs occurred within 12 months of the initial workforce reduction.
In many cases, companies returned even sooner:
- 50% repeated within 9 months
- 34% repeated within 6 months
- 13% repeated within 3 months
What this means: Repeat layoffs frequently occurred within the same planning cycle, indicating that many companies continued adjusting staffing levels after their initial cuts. For workers, this meant that the risk of additional reductions often remained elevated long after the first round.
Year-Over-Year Repeat Layoff Comparison
How many tech layoffs took place in 2023, 2024, and 2025? Zety’s analysis, featured in the table below, provides the total number of companies that conducted layoffs. It also shows that the pace and frequency of repeat layoffs changed year to year.
Year
U.S. Tech Companies With Layoffs
Percentage With 2+ Rounds
Percentage With 3+ Rounds
Median Days Between 1st and 2nd Round
2023
732
14.3%
1.8%
276 days (about 9.1 months)
2024
362
10.8%
2.5%
172 days (about 5.6 months)
2025
158
12%
5.1%
257 days (about 8.5 months)
Three notable shifts stand out:
- The share of companies conducting three or more layoff rounds nearly tripled, from 1.8% in 2023 to 5.1% in 2025.
- Companies moved faster in 2024, with the median gap between first and second rounds shrinking by nearly 100 days versus 2023.
- After speeding up in 2024, the median gap widened again in 2025, suggesting a mix of rapid follow-on cuts and longer restructuring cycles.
What this means: Even as fewer companies announced layoffs each year after the 2023 peak, those that did were increasingly likely to repeat them or escalate to additional rounds.
When will tech layoffs stop? Tech layoffs may come in waves, and the data suggests that no company is immune to repeat reductions. Job seekers can’t always control the market, but they can control their readiness. Keeping skills sharp, resumes current, and networks strong will help them weather these cycles and seize opportunities when they arise.
Methodology
Zety analyzed data from Layoffs.fyi for U.S.-based companies between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025.
Layoffs.fyi is a publicly reported layoff tracker focused on technology and tech-enabled, venture-backed companies across industries. While commonly described as “tech-focused,” it tracks total employee layoffs at covered companies, including non-technical roles such as sales, marketing, and finance.
A “layoff round” was defined as a unique layoff event per company, per reported date. Repeat layoffs were classified as companies conducting two or more layoff rounds within the analysis period. The time between layoffs was calculated as the number of days between a company’s first and second reported layoff during the study window. Reported timing reflects the median number of days between those rounds.
Companies were counted as unique employers and included once across the full study period, even if they conducted layoffs in multiple years. Annual company totals are not mutually exclusive; companies that conducted layoffs in multiple years are counted in each applicable year.
