#Layoffs Tracker This project demonstrates Layoffs data Layoffs are most commonly triggered by periods of unwelcome financial stress and changes in a firm's industry position, as a response to shifts in demand. On a long term scale layoffs can even be caused by adequate job growth. The economic logic behind layoffs is that in order for a firm to make money, it should either cut costs or increase revenues. Since future costs such as the salary of an employee is more predictable than future revenues, some employers choose to layoff under economic constraints.