Job-cut announcements in Arizona are slowing, with 1 notable exception

Article originally posted on AZ Central on August 22, 2025

What looked like an alarming trend of rising Arizona layoff announcements has eased considerably over the past month.

Two statewide employers reported layoffs totaling more than 100 people over the 31 days through Aug. 17, down from seven large-scale layoff announcements over the previous 30 days.

But the larger of the two announcements, a cut of 1,467 positions by Southwest Key Programs on July 31, was the biggest layoff disclosed so far in 2025.

The nonprofit organization, which has provided shelter to migrant children, lost a federal contract this summer. That followed an 86% decline in the number of unaccompanied minors detained along the U.S.-Mexican border over the first half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. The federal government stopped placing minors with the nonprofit in March after the U.S. Justice Department dismissed a President Joe Biden-era civil lawsuit that accused employees of the nonprofit organization of sexually abusing children at facilities, including some in Arizona.

The other large recent layoff announcement was made by Gannett Publishing Services, which plans to close a newspaper-printing operation in Deer Valley and transfer that activity to Las Vegas, shedding 117 jobs in the process. The move will mean the Arizona Republic, which is owned by Gannett, will be published at a facility run by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, with printed copies of the Republic trucked from Las Vegas to metro Phoenix daily.

Gannett said the change, starting Oct. 6, would not affect delivery times for the Republic around metro Phoenix.

Layoff announcements disclosed by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity have been inconsistent so far in 2025, jumping in March and July, then easing in other months. The imposition or threat of tariffs by President Trump and other changes, such as the curtailment of federal contracts supporting nonprofits and state agencies, have contributed to some job cuts.

The third-largest layoff announcement of the past month or so was a cut of 58 jobs at Ryder Integrated Logistics in Yuma. Of the nine layoff announcements since July 18, four were focused in Yuma or nearby Wellton, though the others involved fewer than 20 positions.