A surge in layoffs during the first half of 2025 has neared record-breaking pace, with March’s total alone the third-highest number of single-month layoffs in history, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That total was eclipsed only by April and May 2020 during the pandemic. The 696,309 layoffs announced through May of 2025 represent an increase of 80% over the first five months of last year and are just 65,000 short of matching 2024’s total layoff numbers.

The reasons for these enormous numbers are multifaceted, ranging from staffing and funding cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and their ramifications, companies leaning in to automation and artificial intelligence to sluggish sales. And while the reasons may vary, business realities remain the same, even in the midst of layoffs. How can companies making cuts also keep the employees who remain productive—and retain top talent?

“The best people have other opportunities elsewhere and who wants to be on an unstable ship, right? So that’s exactly the right question,” says Deborah Lovich, a Future of Work fellow at BCG Henderson Institute, Boston Consulting Group’s think tank.

Lovich says that, throughout the layoffs, it’s important to “treat people who

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