Does anyone feel safe from layoffs right now?

In late October, Bashel Lubarsky had a feeling something was off when she got a DM from her co-worker on the way to work. Once she opened her email and saw a note announcing layoffs, Lubarsky suspected she'd been cut.

Minutes later, Lubarsky stepped off the subway to join an impromptu Zoom meeting with HR and got laid off in the middle of downtown Brooklyn, New York.

Up until that point, Lubarsky, 28, says she held two ideas in her head: On the one hand, she had a feeling the company would be going through another round of October layoffs considering it had done the same in 2025. On the other, she felt pretty secure in her job as a graphic designer and illustrator. She'd gotten a promotion earlier in the year, had essential skills used across multiple projects and jokes that she was likely the "cheapest" member of her team. "I never thought my job wasn't safe," Lubarsky tells CNBC Make It.

Lubarsky's experience hits home for many Americans these days. Despite official numbers saying the job market is relatively stable, with new jobs opening up, increased hiring and a steady unemployment rate, an increasing number of workers can't shake the feeling that layoffs are just around the corner and that nothing — not an artificial intelligence-related job, stellar performance or company success — is enough to keep them safe.

Anxiety is rising despite fewer layoffs

According to the American Psychological Association's spring survey of 2,009 employed adults, some 32%, or 1 in 3, U.S. workers say they're concerned about losing their job in the next few weeks or months, up from 26% in 2025.

U.S. employee engagement fell to 29% in the third quarter of 2026, its lowest level since 2011, according to Gallup. And employee confidence fell to its lowest point in September since Glassdoor began measuring it in 2016; confidence rebounded slightly in October, per Glassdoor's latest analysis, but remains near record lows.

Bashel Lubarsky, a graphic designer and illustrator, was laid off from her job in October after being promoted earlier this year.

Courtesy of subject

Despite the sour outlook, layoffs are less severe today than they were a year ago. Through October, employers announced 617,189 job cuts, down 44% from the number of layoff notices in the first 10 months of 2025, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

The biggest cuts this year are happening in tech, transportation and food, per the report, with companies citing AI as a leading reason for layoffs.

It doesn't really matter whether your job can be done by AI or can't be done by AI. It only matters whether the projects that you're working on are part of the company's strategy moving forward in an AI world.

Daniel Zhao

Glassdoor chief economist

It's not that companies are outright replacing employees with AI, but rather they're "shifting investment and headcount from one part of the business to another" focused on AI, says Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor.

"Unfortunately for many workers, that resource reallocation story is a scarier one because it doesn't really matter whether your job can be done by AI or can't be done by AI," Zhao says. "It only matters whether the projects that you're working on are part of the company's strategy moving forward in an AI world."

Working on AI-related efforts still may not provide security if a company shifts priorities in how it wants to use the new tech. Briana Taylor says she felt secure in her product marketing manager job at Microsoft since it was related to the company's AI products. She says she received "exceeded expectations" remarks on her performance review, scoring her a bonus and level promotion, months before being laid off in June 2025.

"I feel like right now companies need something to blame, so they're using AI as a scapegoat," says Taylor, 35, of Chicago. "All the layoffs seem to be happening out of left field."

The surprise exit influenced her next career moves. Taylor says she took a pay cut in her next job, and she also launched her own AI consultancy for small businesses, dubbed Rethink to Rise AI, as a safety net.

Briana Taylor was laid off from her job at Microsoft in 2025. She thought her job was secure because she worked on the company's AI products.

Courtesy of subject

Strong performance doesn't guarantee job security

Much of today's stock market growth is being propped up by expectations of what AI can do as an industry and how that will shape the rest of the economy, says Jo-Ellen Pozner, associate professor of management at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business.

That's putting pressure on tech companies in particular: "You've got to put up results," she says. "And in the absence of a blockbuster new product introduction, lowering costs is probably the only way to do that."

The introduction of AI and new forms of automation "make it that much more tempting for companies to just get rid of extra headcount," Pozner says.

That sometimes means companies are reducing headcount even if they're showing other signs of doing well. Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees in October days before reporting 19% revenue growth year over year in the quarter ending Sept. 30. American Express and Barclays announced 5% cuts to their respective workforces even as the financial services sector sees profits from growing consumer spending and resilient credit.

Looming layoffs create an "intensely destabilizing" work environment, where employees lacking psychological safety divert their energy from creative and innovative work into their anxiety, Pozner says. "It's very counterproductive, and I think quite short-sighted."

In some cases, layoff signals could lead workers to go into overdrive to keep themselves safe. When layoffs are a moving target, it's not always a guarantee.

Weeks ago, Sam Epperson, 33, in Colorado Springs, Colo., was told his tech sales team was behind their goals for the year and took it as guidance to pick up the pace. By early October, Epperson says he was able to close a number of deals amounting to $300,000 to bridge the gap.

It wasn't enough, and he was laid off before the end of the month. "I very much so felt safe in my position until I was let go," he says.

Sam Epperson was laid off from his tech sales job in October after working to close the gap in his team's annual goals.

Courtesy of subject

A lackluster job market is keeping workers on edge

While economists say there are signs of a slowly improving job market, such as jobs being added to the economy and people feeling confident enough to quit their jobs, "we really are going to need to see consistent improvement in the job market to really make workers feel like things are looking up again," says Zhao of Glassdoor.

For her part, Lubarsky in New York City is scaling her own graphic design and illustration client book while looking for a new job. Her outlook isn't great.

Lubarsky says she's been applying to jobs for over a year, even while employed. "I am hardworking. I have so many recommendations, referrals [and] clients. I have everything you could need. I can't even get a response saying, 'No, thank you,'" she says.

It feels worse than the Covid-19-era job market she entered after college, she says: "I graduated in 2020 into the pandemic, and I still got a job within a year."