NJ Job Losses Reach 16K For 2025; What Does 2026 Hold?

The last weeks of 2025 are bringing more bad news for workers in New Jersey as more layoffs have been announced, pushing the state's total to more than 16,000 for the year.

The latest — and largest — cut announced is by Verizon, which is cutting 1,319 jobs in the state, according to the NJ Department of Labor's WARN notice database.

Also announcing layoffs in the last few weeks are Wonder Group, a fast casual restaurant chain, with 121 job cuts by Feb. 19; CMC Energy Services in Hamilton, cutting 89 by March; Intercept Pharmaceuticals in Morristown, cutting 146 by June 30, and Anheuser Busch, which is eliminating 151 positions in Newark in March.

The continued job reductions have sparked questions about whether New Jersey is nearing or in a recession.

New Jersey's unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in September, the most recent figures available from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in November, according to information released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. State-by-state figures for November have not yet been released.

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the organization just completed its 67th annual business outlook survey and found New Jersey businesses were taking a wait-and-see approach to 2026 when it comes to employment levels.

"People are anticipating holding (job) levels in 2026," Siekerka told Patch on Wednesday. The NJBIA's survey was conducted by Signet Researchand gathered 569 valid responses primarily from small businesses, with 65 percent employing 24 people or fewer.

About 17 percent of the organization's members increased their payrolls in 2025, a smaller number than the 20 percent who increased staff in 2024 and lower than the 23 percent who increased staff in 2023.

On the flip side, 19 percent decreased hiring in 2025, she said.

In 2026, about 24 percent of employers anticipate increasing their staffing, while 12 percent expect less hiring for their companies. About 64 percent of employers expect to stay at the same level, Siekerka said.

With wages, 67 percent of employers expect to increase them to some degree, with 34 percent increasing wages by 3 percent to 4.9 percent. Another 10 percent expect to increase salaries by 5 percent or more, she said.

In 2025, 17 percent of employers in the state increased wages by more than 5 percent, and 68 percent increased wages to some extent, Siekerka said.

Verizon's cuts are part of a 13,000-worker layoff companywide that it announced in November. CEO Dan Schulman said the reductions, primarily in management positions, are part of Verizon's efforts to simplify its operations to serve customers better, Fox News reported.

They also aim to reduce costs as Verizon deals with the increased competition in the wireless phone and home internet markets, the Wall Street Journal reported. Verizon has lost postpaid phone subscribers for three straight quarters as competitors continue to lure customers away, the report said.

But do the job losses point to a recession?

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, told Market Watch in October that the state was in a recession then, one of 22 states experiencing the economic slowdown and the likelihood of continued layoffs.

Marc Pfeiffer, associate director of the Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Planning and Public Policy, was not as certain in remarks to NJ101.5 in October.

“We may start seeing signs of a recession, but that doesn’t mean we’re in a recession," he told NJ101.5. "The economy is constantly flowing, changing. I don’t see us at the moment being in recession. But there clearly is potential for that."

Siekerka said the NJBIA's survey of the state's business owners had 52 percent who called the state's economy fair and 25 percent who listed it as poor, and 41 percent of those who answered anticipate the state's economy will be moderately or substantially worse in the first six months of 2026.

But the plans by some businesses to increase wages and hiring, even by small amounts, were encouraging, she said.

"We're definitely stagnant," she said. "You want to be increasing. But it's not necessarily doom and gloom."