The American workforce is exhausted. Since January 2025, over 1,247 companies have announced mass layoffs spanning tech, healthcare, finance, government, and logistics. But it's not just the numbers that are alarming—it's what this relentless cycle is doing to workers' mental health.
Experts say we're experiencing something new: "layoff fatigue." And it's affecting everyone, whether you've lost your job or not.
When October Became the Cruelest Month
Remember when companies avoided major layoffs during the holiday season? That unwritten rule has vanished. Last October saw employers cut more than 150,000 jobs—the largest wave of layoffs in 22 years. Fueled by cost-cutting measures and AI automation, these cuts shattered any remaining sense of job security.
If you're suddenly facing an employment gap and don't know what to do next, you're not alone. The worry and fear creating that bone-deep exhaustion? That's layoff fatigue.
You Don't Have to Be Laid Off to Suffer
Here's what makes layoff fatigue so insidious: you don't need to lose your job to experience it. Simply waiting for the ax to fall can cause the same exhaustion. Wondering if you're next creates a constant state of anxiety that drains your mental resources daily.
Maybe you're one of the employees taking on the workload of laid-off coworkers, stretching yourself thin while wondering how long before you're next. This combination puts you at serious risk for anxiety and burnout.
The Side Hustle Survival Strategy
Layoff anxiety is driving a massive shift toward side hustles. A January 2026 Careerminds survey of 1,000 full-time workers revealed that 66.5% of American workers are now juggling side hustles alongside their full-time jobs. Nearly two-thirds (64.1%) say they felt pressured to seek a second income source due to layoff fears.
More than a third of workers (37.5%) have started side hustles specifically as a safety net in case of layoffs. It's become a form of career insurance.
But this insurance comes at a steep price. When combined with job security concerns, 54.9% of workers say their extra work has contributed to moderate or severe burnout, with 87.4% reporting at least some increase in stress levels.
The Layoff Loop: A New Corporate Pattern
Layoffs aren't new, but serial layoffs—getting laid off multiple times—represent a disturbing trend. Another Careerminds study found that 78% of HR leaders say their company has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs in just the past twelve months. Eight in ten report that three-quarters of these cuts happened within six months of each other.
The result? A destabilized workforce and plummeting morale.
Jackie P. Taylor, CEO of Boost Strategy Group, sees organization members who are still employed but exploring "soft landing strategies" before layoffs reach their door. "The smart money is on building a safety net before you need it," Taylor says. "Take back control, whether you want to land a new job, grow a side hustle, or build a business that can scale. The point is: you don't have to wait to be pushed."
The Psychological Toll on Everyone
Ashley Herd, former head of HR at McKinsey and author of The Manager Method, explains that layoff fatigue affects both those who are laid off and those who remain employed.
"For those let go, it can create a sense of paralysis," she points out. "Why apply for another role if it might just lead to another layoff? And for those still employed, especially after surviving multiple rounds of layoffs, it feels exactly like that: survival. That constant tension impacts how people show up to work—and it directly shows up in results."
The numbers back this up. A recent Headway study found that 55% of Americans say they wouldn't mind losing their jobs, as work increasingly feels like a burden rather than stability. This points to a deeper issue of burnout, with laid-off workers grappling with loss of motivation and dread driven by a lack of meaning and autonomy.
Cindy Cavoto, productivity coach at Headway, says this has more to do with layoff fatigue than laziness. "The feeling of not minding losing one's job often stems from emotional exhaustion with a sense of monotony and a lack of meaning tagging along. There's a concept called boreout—it's mental overload at the workplace due to a lack of either adequate quantitative or qualitative workload. Over time, you see reduced motivation and satisfaction."
What to Do When It Happens to You
Layoffs displace us physically, mentally, and financially. So what do you do if this happens to you? Or if you're worried it might?
Your first reaction will likely be chaos and confusion, followed by frantic Google searches for "How to cope with layoffs" and "Jobs near me." That's normal.
"When you're unexpectedly laid off from work, it's reasonable you may experience negative impacts to your mental health that include feelings of depression, shame, anxiety about the future, lowered self-esteem, and a lack of motivation," says Courtney Cope of BetterHelp. "Additionally, unless you've been able to save an emergency fund, a layoff can cause housing instability and food insecurity if you're unable to pay your rent or feed your family while looking for another job."
Turning Fatigue into Opportunity
Susan Gonzales, founder and CEO of the Bay Area nonprofit AIandYou, says recent layoffs are creating two kinds of people: the deer in the headlights and the ones sprinting toward opportunity.
"The smart ones are diving into simple or complex AI tools, learning online and figuring out how to add real value to an organization," she notes.
Practical Steps to Move Forward
Give yourself permission to feel—with boundaries. Cope recommends taking a defined period (72 hours, one week) to acknowledge the low feelings that come up. Those feelings deserve recognition, but don't let them run the show. Soon, begin taking steps to stabilize your future.
Keep moving forward. Whatever you do, keep moving in one area of your life or another. Continue to exercise daily, stick with a hobby you recently started, or attend networking events and meet people. Keep putting things on your schedule and remind yourself that there's a life worth living beyond this immediate situation.
Seek wisdom from the right people. Talk to peers who've been through something similar or coworkers familiar with your industry about how they found jobs quickly in the past. Be purposeful about who you confide in and seek advice from.
Consider professional support. If you're experiencing layoff fatigue, therapy can provide emotional and practical support on how to move forward.
Layoff fatigue is real, widespread, and affecting millions of Americans—whether they've been laid off or not. The key is recognizing it, acknowledging its impact, and taking proactive steps to protect your mental health and financial future.
You don't have to wait for the ax to fall. Start building your safety net now, whether that means developing new skills, exploring AI tools, starting a side project, or simply strengthening your professional network. In an era of endless layoffs, the best time to prepare was yesterday. The second-best time is today.