Business

Tech layoffs 2026: 175,000+ jobs lost amid AI boom

By Sohail Khan 25 August 2026, 6:20 pm

Benchmarks
Nifty24,334.55115.5

FEATURED FUNDS★★★★★

Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund Direct-Growth

5Y Return
23.95 %

Invest Now

Enter search text:

Business News›News›International›Global Trends›Tech layoffs 2026: More than 175,000 workers laid off as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn and dozens of companies cut jobs amid AI boom

Read Today's Paper

Tech layoffs 2026: More than 175,000 workers laid off as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn and dozens of companies cut jobs amid AI boom

Synopsis

Tech layoffs are accelerating in 2026 as big companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Meta, Linkedin, TikTok, Visa and dozens of other mega companies have announced slashing of jobs. Here's why AI, restructuring, cost-cutting and changing business priorities are reshaping the technology workforce. More than 175,000 technology workers had been laid off in 2026 by the middle of the year.

Tech layoffs 2026 are accelerating as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Visa and dozens of other companies cut jobs

The technology industry is facing another major year of layoffs, with some of the world's biggest companies cutting jobs as they restructure operations, control costs and redirect investment toward artificial intelligence.

From Apple and Microsoft to Oracle, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Visa, Uber, Cisco and Intel, major employers have announced workforce reductions across technology, gaming, e-commerce, payments and other industries.

The reasons vary. Some companies have directly linked their decisions to AI, automation or the need to become more efficient. Others have cited restructuring, weaker demand, changing business priorities, cost pressures or shifts in strategy.

August 2026: Apple, TikTok, Zillow and Etsy

Apple

Apple has laid off at least 60 employees from its Vision Group, which is responsible for the Vision Pro spatial-computing products.

The cuts reportedly extend to Apple's Intelligent Systems Experience group, which is involved with some of the AI systems used on its devices. Overall, the changes are estimated to affect more than 200 employees.

The reductions come as Apple reassesses its ambitions in spatial computing and works on the technical architecture behind its AI-powered Siri.

ALSO READ: 18-year-old California student Colin Jie Chu built a model to predict EV battery health with 2.36% error. His research wins top US science award

TikTok

TikTok plans to eliminate about 250 jobs and close its Nashville, Tennessee, office in October.

The office included part of TikTok's content moderation operation.

"We have decided to close our Nashville office to streamline our operations and better align our teams for long-term growth," a press officer for the TikTok U.S.D.S. Joint Venture said.

Zillow

Zillow is cutting just over 500 jobs as it reorganizes its business.

"These are difficult decisions that reflect both the strides we're making in our strategy and the reality of what is required of us to grow at scale," CEO Jeremy Wacksman wrote.

The company said the changes are intended to create a more disciplined cost structure and ensure it has "the right people in the right positions."

Etsy

Etsy has laid off about 220 employees, or approximately 12% of its workforce, primarily affecting product and engineering teams.

CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the cuts were needed to create "the organization we believe Etsy needs for the future."

Etsy has said the layoffs were not driven by AI adoption.

July 2026: Microsoft, Visa, Uber, Samsung and Amazon

Microsoft

Microsoft has begun another round of layoffs affecting approximately 4,800 employees, or about 2.1% of its workforce.

Xbox has been hit particularly hard, with about 3,200 roles expected to be eliminated through fiscal year 2027.

The cuts come as Microsoft continues to spend heavily on AI, cloud computing and gaming while restructuring parts of its business.

Visa

Payments giant Visa is cutting approximately 2,600 jobs, representing about 7% of its workforce, with technology and product teams expected to be particularly affected.

"To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work," CEO Ryan McInerney wrote.

"AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa."

Intel

Intel is reportedly cutting jobs within its data center group as it reshapes the business around key technology priorities. The company has not disclosed the number of affected positions.

Monday.com

Monday.com is cutting about 20% of its workforce, or roughly 630 jobs, as it makes AI a central part of its business.

The company is increasingly building its products around AI agents that can perform tasks traditionally handled by employees.

Patreon

Patreon has eliminated about 93 jobs, representing 20% of its workforce.

The company said the cuts were related to organizational changes and specifically stated that it was not making them because it believed AI replaces humans.

"AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry, though, including how we work."

Uber

Uber has reportedly eliminated about 10% of its customer service positions as it increases its use of AI.

The company had already said it would slow hiring while making greater use of artificial intelligence internally.

Samsung

Samsung is restructuring its U.S. workforce as it moves its headquarters from New Jersey to Texas.

While 179 affected positions were initially announced, later reports indicated that 739 New Jersey roles had been affected in some way. Another 100 positions in Texas were also reportedly eliminated.

Amazon

Amazon has continued restructuring, including cuts within its artificial general intelligence division.

"This is a fast-moving space, and we're sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts," an Amazon spokesperson said.

June 2026: Lucid, Bungie, Rackspace, Rivian and Robinhood

EV maker Lucid announced plans to cut approximately 18% of its workforce as it works to improve profitability amid increasing competition.

Bungie, the studio behind Destiny, announced a "significant number" of layoffs, affecting much of the Destiny team and some Marathon employees.

Cloud computing company Rackspace laid off approximately 750 employees, or about 15% of its workforce, as it shifts its focus toward AI.

EV maker Rivian eliminated hundreds of positions, representing around 2% of its workforce, primarily affecting its service and customer organization.

Trading platform Robinhood announced plans to eliminate about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 290 jobs, as part of a restructuring.

CEO Vlad Tenev said the company would be "utilizing frontier technologies to push our execution even further."

Salesforce also eliminated at least 86 employees in California, with additional cuts reportedly occurring elsewhere.

May 2026: Meta, Intuit, Cisco, PayPal and Coinbase

The May layoff wave included some of the year's biggest workforce reductions.

Groupon announced plans to cut approximately 400 jobs, or 25% of its workforce, as it works to become an AI-native company.

Wix announced cuts affecting about 20% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 employees. CEO Avishai Abrahami said the company needed to become "a faster, leaner, and flatter organization."

Webflow also carried out a significant restructuring, with AI changing how the company approaches digital experiences.

ClickUp cut approximately 22% of its workforce as it shifted toward AI.

Intuit announced plans to eliminate about 3,000 jobs, or 17% of its workforce, while increasing its focus on AI.

Meta began cutting approximately 8,000 employees, equivalent to around 10% of its workforce, while also closing thousands of open positions. The restructuring is intended in part to create more room for AI spending.

Cisco announced plans to cut just under 4,000 jobs while continuing to invest in AI, silicon, optics and security.

"While we are reducing roles in some areas, we are making clear, strategic investments — particularly in silicon, optics, security, and in our employees' use of AI across the company," CEO Chuck Robbins said.

LinkedIn planned to cut approximately 5% of its workforce, or around 875 positions.

General Motors announced plans to eliminate around 500 to 600 IT positions as it reduces costs and changes its technology workforce.

Cloudflare cut more than 1,100 jobs in an AI-focused restructuring.

"Today's actions are not a cost-cutting exercise or an assessment of individuals' performance; They are about Cloudflare defining how a world-class, high-growth company operates and creates value in the agentic AI era," the company said.

PayPal announced plans to cut approximately 20% of its workforce, or nearly 4,800 jobs, while increasing AI adoption and automation.

Coinbase eliminated approximately 700 employees, or 14% of its workforce, with CEO Brian Armstrong pointing to market conditions and AI.

April 2026: Nike, Snap, Disney, Amazon and Meta

April brought another round of layoffs. Nike announced plans to eliminate approximately 1,400 roles, with most in technology.

Amazon planned to temporarily close a Florida warehouse, affecting more than 600 jobs. Battery recycling company Redwood Materials cut about 10% of its workforce, or 135 employees.

Snap eliminated approximately 1,000 jobs, equivalent to 16% of its staff, while increasing its use of AI.

Disney announced 1,000 layoffs, while Marvel separately eliminated about 8% of its workforce.

GoPro planned to eliminate 145 positions as part of a restructuring.

Vimeo went through another round of layoffs, eliminating more than 120 employees.

Meta also continued restructuring, with around 200 Bay Area employees reportedly affected.

Microsoft additionally offered a voluntary buyout program to eligible U.S. employees.

March 2026: Oracle, Atlassian, Epic Games and others

One of the biggest stories came from Oracle, which disclosed that it had cut approximately 21,000 jobs over the previous year, or about 13% of its workforce.

"The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce," Oracle said.

Eidos-Montréal announced 124 layoffs, while T-Mobile carried out another round of IT restructuring.

Meta eliminated approximately 700 positions, including jobs within Reality Labs, social media and recruiting.

Epic Games announced layoffs affecting more than 1,000 employees. CEO Tim Sweeney said the cuts were linked to declining Fortnite engagement and emphasized that they were not related to AI.

Ubisoft eliminated 105 positions at Red Storm Entertainment and ended game development at the studio.

Atlassian announced approximately 1,600 layoffs, equivalent to around 10% of its workforce.

CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said the restructuring would help the company "self-fund further investment in AI and enterprise sales, while strengthening our financial profile."

Why are so many companies cutting jobs?

The 2026 layoffs do not have a single explanation.

For some companies, AI is directly connected to workforce reductions. Oracle, Monday.com, Wix, Cloudflare, Coinbase and Meta have all pointed to AI or AI-related transformation as part of their broader strategy.

But other companies have different reasons.

Lucid is trying to improve profitability. Epic Games cited weaker Fortnite engagement. Samsung is restructuring around its headquarters move. Etsy said its cuts were not driven by AI.

Still, a common theme is emerging: companies are trying to accomplish more with fewer resources while redirecting money toward technologies they believe will drive future growth.

What the tech layoffs mean for workers

The 2026 layoffs show that AI's impact extends beyond chatbots and software development.

Companies are increasingly looking for workers who can use AI tools, build AI products and manage automated systems, while some routine jobs are becoming easier to automate.

That does not mean AI will eliminate every technology job. Instead, the skills companies value are changing rapidly.

The trend has already prompted a wider response. California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a tool to track AI's impact on employment, while more than 4,500 Google employees reportedly signed a petition seeking stronger protections against AI-related layoffs, including buyouts before mandatory layoffs and guaranteed severance.

The tech layoff wave may not be over

The 2026 cuts stretch across almost every part of the technology economy.

Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Visa, Uber, Cisco, Intel, Salesforce, Samsung, Zillow, Etsy, Robinhood, Coinbase, PayPal and Cloudflare have all announced workforce reductions or restructuring.

Gaming has also been hit, with Bungie, Epic Games, Ubisoft and Eidos-Montréal announcing cuts.

Software companies including Monday.com, Patreon, Wix, Webflow, ClickUp and Intuit have reshaped their workforces, while Lucid, Rivian, Groupon, Snap, Disney, Nike, GoPro, Vimeo, Redwood Materials, Rackspace, T-Mobile and General Motors have also announced reductions.

For workers, the message is becoming clearer: the AI revolution is changing not only the technology companies build, but also how many people they employ, what jobs they prioritize and where they spend their money.

With AI investment continuing to accelerate, the technology industry's 2026 layoff story may have more chapters before the year ends.

Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
Add Now!

(You can now subscribe to our WhatsApp channel)

(You can now subscribe to our WhatsApp channel)

Read More News on
tech layoffs 2026tech layoffsAI layoffsApple layoffsMicrosoft layoffsOracle layoffsAmazon layoffsMeta layoffsTikTok layoffsAI jobs

Enter search text:

Continue reading with one of these options:
Limited Access
Free
Login to get access to some exclusive stories

& personalised newsletters
Login Now

Unlimited Access
Starting @ Rs120/month
Get access to exclusive stories, expert opinions &

in-depth stock reports
Subscribe Now

Unlock Access to All Exclusives with ETPrime FREE TRIAL

15 Days Free: Unlock All ETPrime Exclusives, Market Tools & ePapers

Trial offer expiring in00 : 05 : 00

I'd rather pay ₹2599 now

Uh-oh! This is an exclusive story available for selected readers only.

Worry not. You’re just a step away.

Prime Account Detected!

It seems like you're already an ETPrime member with

Log out of your current logged-in account and log in again using your ET Prime credentials to enjoy all member benefits.

Unlock ETPrime's Exclusive Stories Today!

Subscribe to gain powerful insights on business, stock market and industry trends.

Big Price Drop! Flat 40% Off

Student Only Offer

Already a Member? Sign In now

Already a Member? Sign In now
Already a Member? Sign In now

Offer Exclusively For You

Save up to Rs. 700/-

ON ET PRIME MEMBERSHIP

Avail Offer

Offer Exclusively For You

Get 1 Year Free

With 1 and 2-Year ET prime membership

Avail Offer

Offer Exclusively For You

Get 1 Year Free

With 1 and 2-Year ET prime membership

Avail Offer

Offer Exclusively For You

Get Flat 40% Off

Then ₹ 1749 for 1 year

Avail Offer

Offer Exclusively For You

ET Prime at ₹ 49 for 1 month

Then ₹ 1749 for 1 year

Avail Offer

Special Offer

Get flat 40% off on ETPrime

Avail Offer
Avail Offer

Claim NowAlready a Member? Sign In now

Need Assistance?

Connect with an ETPrime expert for personalized support and guidance

+91 9484700004

' + h3 + '

' + h4 + '

' + listing + '

What’s Included with

ETPrime Membership

1Exclusive Insights That Matter

Uncover the truth with our investigative stories

Make strategic moves using the real-world case studies

Read industry-specific stories to identify emerging trends

Spot opportunities with in-depth insights that matter

Trump temper on H-1B visas is forcing Indians to do these things to stay put in US

What Adani’s US indictment means for India Inc’s overseas fundraising
Why veterans like Reliance, L&T are on acquisition spree? Aswath Damodaran has an answer.

Will China’s dollar bond sale in Saudi Arabia trump the US in financial world?
Huawei launches its own OS to compete with Google and Apple. But can it win beyond China?

The problem with lab grown diamonds
Why a falling rupee is a better option for the economy

A list of top 20 momentum stocks that have delivered massive returns in one year