University of Southern California Layoff — October 2025

The University of Southern California began cutting 259 jobs as part of efforts to address a projected operating deficit of about $230 million. Since July 9, USC has laid off or is in the process of terminating 975 employees across its nearly 24,600 faculty and staff (not including 9,185 student workers). The latest round affects its University Park main campus, which will have shed 616 people there after cuts complete Dec. 31, and other reductions have hit the Viterbi School of Engineering (55 layoffs) and the Health Sciences Campus (151 layoffs, including staff at Keck and USC Norris). USC attributes the workforce reductions to funding cutbacks, declining federal funding, and structural operating deficits and has outlined personnel and budget cuts to reduce costs. The university reported multi-year deficits and is undertaking reorganizations and personnel actions to save hundreds of millions through the current fiscal year.

University of Southern California disclosed this layoff in an official WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice recorded by the CA state workforce agency on October 27, 2025. The notice covers 259 employees in Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles County), with the layoff effective October 31, 2025.

That is roughly 0.6% of the 40,000 people University of Southern California employs.

LayoffTalk has tracked 41 layoff events at University of Southern California since July 2023, including 1,065 jobs documented in official WARN filings, with 28 additional events known from news reporting.