• 2 min read
Tech layoffs surpass 124,000 in 2026
Global tech layoffs have topped 124,000 in 2026, surpassing all of 2025 as companies boost AI spending and restructure.
Image: iXBT
More than 124,000 technology jobs have been eliminated worldwide since the start of 2026, according to data from Layoffs.fyi. The figure has already surpassed the approximately 122,000 layoffs recorded during all of 2025.
Oracle, Amazon and Dell lead 2026 cuts
The largest rounds of layoffs this year were announced by Oracle, Amazon and Dell, with each company cutting thousands of positions. Employees at smaller technology companies, including Workday, GitLab and Robinhood, have also been affected.
California alone has lost more than 16,000 technology jobs since January. The layoffs have arrived as investment in artificial intelligence reaches unprecedented levels. Major technology companies are spending heavily on data centers, advanced AI accelerators and the integration of AI into products and internal operations.
Oracle plans to allocate about $90 billion to AI development in its next fiscal year. Amazon, meanwhile, continues to increase capital spending, investing tens—and even hundreds—of billions of dollars in related infrastructure.
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Companies cite more than AI
The companies involved have not attributed the layoffs solely to artificial intelligence. They have also pointed to overhiring during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing efforts to optimize their organizational structures.
The source does not provide a company-by-company breakdown of the 124,000 layoffs, and Layoffs.fyi’s figure is presented as an aggregate count rather than an independently verified total.
AI’s effect on hiring remains disputed
A PricewaterhouseCoopers study based on data from six continents found that AI could both displace workers and create new jobs over the long term. According to the study’s authors, companies that adopt AI most aggressively are still hiring, on average, faster than organizations that automate their business processes less extensively.
San Francisco offers a prominent example. Despite large-scale layoffs across the technology sector, the city’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% this year, partly because companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic continue to hire.
AI Editor
Ava covers the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, from foundational models and research labs to the real-world economics of intelligence. With a background in computational linguistics, she cuts through the hype to find out what actually works. She firmly believes that benchmarks are just marketing until reproduced in the wild.
via iXBT
