Laid off from American Express.
American Express's big layoff rounds on record are years old, the largest being the 13,200 to 14,200 jobs it announced across 2001. No major company-wide cut was announced from 2024 through May 2026, yet its 10-K booked $96 million to $179 million a year of restructuring, mainly severance, in 2023 through 2025.
At a glance
What's known about American Express severance and layoffs
- 76,800 · American Express employees at the end of 2025
- Up 1,700, or 2.3% · Headcount change at American Express in 2025
- $96 million · Restructuring expense in 2025, mainly new severance charges
- None, per TheStreet · Major company-wide cuts announced, 2024 through May 2026
- 13,200 to 14,200 jobs, announced across 2001 · Largest American Express round on record
- None · American Express WARN filings in our tracker since 2025
- 12, the newest from December 2015 · All-time American Express filings in our tracker
Recent American Express layoffs
American Express's CEO said in July 2026 that its rep count would shrink over time through attrition
American Banker's July 24, 2026 report on the earnings call quoted CEO Steve Squeri saying "The number of reps hasn't grown. Over time it will decrease from attrition." The company described a "lack of acceleration in hiring" in customer service even as that business grew. No major company-wide reduction had been announced in 2024 through 2026 as of TheStreet's May report.
Previous rounds
American Express layoff history
If American Express cut your job, or you're waiting to find out, the company's recent public record is thin, which can make a quiet cut feel lonelier. TheStreet reported in May 2026 that American Express hadn't announced any major company-wide reduction in force in 2024, 2025 or 2026, and that it added 1,700 employees in 2025 to reach 76,800. The same report said staffing changes still happened as hiring shifted toward technology and operations, including cybersecurity, engineering and digital product design.
The annual report shows what the headlines don't. American Express says it periodically starts restructuring programs, usually finished within a year, and typically incurs severance and other exit costs with them. Restructuring expense, which it says primarily relates to new severance charges, was $179 million in 2023, $123 million in 2024 and $96 million in 2025, and the programs in progress during 2025, begun from 2022 onward, had cost $443 million cumulatively. It doesn't break those dollars down by site, program or headcount, so they can't say how many people lost jobs.
For 2026 there are two signals, and neither is an announcement. In an unverified Blind post dated March 18, someone listed under American Express wrote that they'd gotten notice the day before, that at least 8 to 12 people in their network were laid off, and that cost concerns were the stated reason. In July, American Banker reported a "lack of acceleration in hiring" in customer service even as that business grew, and quoted CEO Steve Squeri saying "The number of reps hasn't grown. Over time it will decrease from attrition." In March 2020, Squeri had told employees he intended to avoid layoffs that year and froze outside hiring, with 64,000 people on staff.
Our WARN filing tracker holds 12 American Express filings, none dated 2025 or later. Six are from 2015, three in Weston, Florida, one in St. Petersburg that December for 124 jobs, and two in Salt Lake City in June, the second filed as amended. The rest reach back to Atlanta in 2010 and to Chicago, Dallas and Houston in 2001 and 2002. Headquarters is 200 Vesey Street in New York, and TheStreet lists US hubs in Atlanta, Palo Alto, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Sunrise, Florida. In 2008 a spokeswoman named large customer-care centers in North Carolina, Florida and Arizona besides the Salt Lake City one.
The Labor Department's WARN summary sets the federal floor. Employers with a staff of 100 or more generally owe 60 calendar days of advance written notice when a closing or mass layoff hits at least 50 employees at one site. Some states layer their own closure laws on top, and the department's Employment and Training Administration, which administers WARN, plays no part in seeking damages for workers who got too little notice. The unemployment pages for New York, Arizona, Florida and Utah cover the states holding the headquarters and three of those hubs, and it's worth reading up on negotiating a severance agreement before you sign one.
Reporting on previous American Express layoff rounds
2026, March (employee post) · An unverified Blind post from someone listed under American Express described a notice and at least 8 to 12 layoffs in the poster's network, citing cost concerns, with full-time staff cut and contractors kept. Its title claimed cuts of up to 35% in some organizations.
2023 to 2025 · The 10-K records restructuring expense of $179 million, $123 million and $96 million for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which the company says primarily relates to new severance charges, with no job count attached.
2015, January · 4,000 jobs expected in the coming months, around 7% of a 63,000-person workforce, as CNBC reported citing a company representative, with a $313 million pretax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter.
2013, January · About 5,400 jobs, partly offset by planned hiring, with staffing expected to end 2013 about 4 to 6 percent below 63,500. Of about $400 million in charges, roughly $370 million covered severance obligations and related employee costs.
2009, May · About 4,000 jobs, roughly 6% of the worldwide workforce, with a charge of $180 million to $250 million that included $175 million to $210 million in severance and other employee costs.
2008, October · 7,000 jobs, about 10 percent of the worldwide workforce, mainly management, with a planned $240 million to $290 million charge. Utah then had about 1,800 of the company's employees, mostly at a Salt Lake City customer service center.
A spokeswoman said affected Utah employees could stay until year-end and would be offered a full severance package, outplacement assistance and other support.
2001 · 5,500 to 6,500 more jobs, announced December 12, much of it in travel after the September 11 slowdown. The December cut's $240 million to $280 million charge was to primarily cover severance and related costs of eliminating those jobs, plus consolidating real estate. With 7,700 announced earlier in the year, the total came to 13,200 to 14,200, about 15 percent of the workforce at the start of 2001.
What to do after being laid off from American Express
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. American Express's biggest hubs: Florida, Utah, Georgia, Texas. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what American Express's hub states run: Florida, Utah, Georgia, Texas, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
American Express layoff and severance questions
Is American Express laying off employees in 2026?
No major company-wide reduction had been announced in 2024, 2025 or 2026 as of TheStreet's May 29, 2026 report, and our tracker holds no American Express WARN filing dated 2025 or later. An unverified March 2026 Blind post described a notice and at least 8 to 12 layoffs in the poster's network, and in July CEO Steve Squeri was quoted saying the rep count would decrease over time from attrition.
How many employees does American Express have?
American Express closed 2025 with 76,800 employees, according to its annual report as TheStreet summarized it, up 1,700 or 2.3% from a year earlier. For scale, Reuters put the company at 64,000 employees in March 2020, and the 2013 restructuring filing cited a total of 63,500.
What were the biggest American Express layoffs?
The biggest on record came in 2001, when the company announced 13,200 to 14,200 job cuts across the year, much of it in travel after September 11. It announced 7,000 cuts in 2008, about 4,000 in 2009 and about 5,400 in 2013, and in January 2015 CNBC reported, citing a company representative, that it expected to cut 4,000 more.
Does American Express give severance to laid-off employees?
The record holds company-wide totals. The filings tie about $370 million of the 2013 charges, and $175 million to $210 million of 2009's, to severance and employee costs, and call 2023 through 2025 restructuring expense primarily new severance charges. In 2008 a spokeswoman said affected Utah employees would get a full severance package and outplacement help. None of it describes one person's package, so read yours line by line.
Has American Express filed WARN notices?
Our tracker holds 12 American Express filings in all, and none is dated 2025 or later. The newest is a St. Petersburg, Florida notice dated December 11, 2015, for 124 jobs, and the oldest come from Chicago and Dallas in 2001. Federal WARN, as the Labor Department describes it, reaches managers and supervisors as well as hourly and salaried workers.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from American Express?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. American Express's biggest U.S. hubs are Florida, Utah, Georgia, Texas. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at American Express?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at American Express?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from American Express?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.