For millions of Americans, the end of the year is a time to track down a scarf at the back of a closet, wolf down Christmas cookies, and catch up with family and friends at parties and gatherings. For some of the nation’s largest employers, it’s also seemingly a time to clean house.

This year, thousands of workers are being laid off during the holiday season, especially in industries like media, tech, and finance. Big-name companies such as Ernst & Young, Hasbro, and Spotify have announced layoffs in recent weeks. And if you scroll through your LinkedIn feed, you’ll likely see posts from many people discussing a recent layoff.

While a layoff at any time of the year is difficult for workers to absorb, it can be particularly tough during the holidays, when budgets are often stretched thin and job hunting can feel like a fool’s errand. So why do companies seem to use the holiday season to cull their workforce?

Well—maybe they don’t.

Despite the sense that more companies conduct layoffs in December, experts, as well as the data, don’t necessarily show it to be true.

Career consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. has tracked layoffs across companies for years by surveying its network of customers, partners, and professional contacts, which spans over 300 companies of up to 50,000+ employees, across 30 industries and all regions of the United States. Data supplied to Fast Company from the firm shows that between 1993 and 2012, January was the month that saw the most layoffs. And since then, April and May tend to be the most popular months for layoffs, with April seeing a monthly average of more than 100,000 layoffs between 2013 and 2023.

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