Sweeping Corporate Layoffs Start to Make Their Mark on Meetings  

The numbers are staggering: Amazon’s announcement of 16,000 layoffs in late January followed 14,000 cuts in October (combined, its biggest layoff ever), and UPS will cut 30,000 more jobs after cutting 48,000 in 2025 — along with announcements from other Fortune 100 companies including Meta, Dow, Tyson Foods, Nike, and Verizon.

 A total of 108,435 job cuts were announced last month, following more than 1.1 million total layoffs in 2025.

None of these directly targeted meeting or corporate travel departments, and many of these companies often rely on external agency partners. But there’s no question that business events will feel an impact, say industry experts and recruiters.

Repercussions could come in the form of fewer discretionary trips, tighter approvals, and more scrutiny when it comes to large off-sites, says Mike McCormick, managing partner at Travel Again Advisory. During periods like this, companies also make changes to the meetings themselves, such as shortening agendas, tightening attendee lists, and meeting regionally at less-expensive venues.

Travel that is directly tied to revenue outcome becomes the priority, he says. “Companies will protect revenue-critical and customer-facing trips while cutting back on internal travel where possible.”

A January survey of 571 members in 40 countries taken right before most of the layoff announcements by the Global Business Travel Association found that a majority of respondents (59%) are optimistic about the year ahead; however, that number was down 8% from a year ago.

Only 13% of buyers said they expect a decrease in business travel spend, and 40% expect it to stay at 2025 levels. Additionally, 38% expect their organization’s number of business travelers to stay about the same as 2025, while one in five (18%) expect a decline.

In the U.S., 20% of travel managers said they expect a decrease in staffing and 26% anticipate pausing on new hires. When asked where their organization is reducing budgets or spending in 2026, primary areas cited were reducing marketing spend (26%), pausing new hires (22%), and decreasing staff/outsourcing to vendors (13%).

“Buyers are entering 2026 less confident than they were entering 2025, signaling some anticipation of further economic and mobility headwinds to come,” the report concluded.  

Contractors replace new hires

Tracy Judge, founder and CEO of placement firm Soundings Connect, reports that she has not seen a “meaningful increase” in clients from the affected companies. “During periods of mass layoffs, we typically see clear spikes in new talent joining our platform. We also haven’t seen a rise in tech companies coming to us for talent, while our overall corporate business is increasing.”

What she has seen is a “significant increase” in talent requests from agencies, which she says is most likely related to the practice of increased outsourcing during periods of uncertainty, rather than committing to additional full-time headcount and overhead.

At Cadre, an online marketplace specializing in contract jobs, it’s the same. President Todd Taranto reports record contract/short term planner postings, and “one of the best starts to a year that we have seen for on-site travel director work.” 

One anonymous agency representative says that it feels like her corporate clients are placing their meetings under a microscope. “We haven’t seen widespread cuts to meetings and events teams or budgets at this time, but there is more scrutiny around ROI and business impact.”

“This isn’t a collapse cycle — it’s a discipline cycle,” said McCormick. “Yes, CFOs are scrutinizing travel budgets more closely, but they’re not eliminating travel that drives revenue or strengthens key customer relationships. The distinction in 2026 won’t be about overall volume as much as purpose.”