Tech layoffs continue to mount
Reports show more than 73,000 tech jobs have been cut so far in 2026, with other tallies pushing the first-quarter total above 80,000. (moneycontrol.com) Some outlets warn that cuts could accelerate through the year as firms redirect hiring toward AI and infrastructure. (telanganatoday.com)
Tech companies have cut at least 73,212 jobs across 95 employers so far in 2026, according to Layoffs.fyi’s live tracker updated April 18. (layoffs.fyi) A broader tracker from TrueUp put the toll even higher at 95,021 jobs across 241 layoff events as of April 17, showing how the total changes depending on which companies each database counts. (trueup.io) The cuts are landing across cloud, software, e-commerce and information technology services, with the United States accounting for most of the losses so far this year, according to Moneycontrol’s summary of Layoffs.fyi data. (moneycontrol.com) Several reports tracing first-quarter layoffs put the January-through-March total near 78,000 to 80,000 jobs, far above the 29,845 recorded in the same period of 2025 on Layoffs.fyi’s count. (finance.yahoo.com) Companies are not describing one single cause. Moneycontrol said firms are still unwinding pandemic-era overhiring while shifting spending toward artificial intelligence, automation and data-center infrastructure. (moneycontrol.com) That spending shift is showing up in individual layoffs. Reuters reported on March 5 that Oracle was planning thousands of job cuts as costs rose from a large artificial intelligence data-center expansion. (usnews.com) At Block, the parent of Square and Cash App, more than 4,000 jobs were cut in late February as the company told investors it could operate with a smaller staff using more artificial intelligence tools. (engadget.com) Snap said on April 15 that it would lay off about 1,000 employees, or 16% of full-time staff, as it pushed for leaner teams and more artificial intelligence-driven efficiency, according to Reuters. (msn.com) Not everyone accepts artificial intelligence as the main explanation. Cognizant Chief AI Officer Babak Hodjat told Nikkei Asia, as quoted by Yahoo Finance, that artificial intelligence can become “the scapegoat” for resizing after companies hired too many workers. (finance.yahoo.com) The next test comes in the next few months: Layoffs.fyi’s total is still well below the first-quarter shock of 2023, but 2026 has already outpaced both 2024 and 2025 at the same point in the year. (finance.yahoo.com)
