Layoffs vs. funding split
Tech layoffs in Q1 2026 exceeded 60,000 even as selected European startups kept raising capital. Independent trackers put Q1 cuts above 60,000, while Tech.eu counted more than €720M in European tech deals last week — a split between broad hiring weakness and concentrated funding flows. (northpennnow.com, tech.eu)
Tech companies kept cutting jobs through the first quarter of 2026, even as European startups still pulled in hundreds of millions of euros in fresh funding. (layoffs.fyi) Layoffs.fyi showed 71,447 tech employees laid off across 80 companies as of April 14, 2026. TrueUp, another tracker, put the 2026 total even higher at 91,739 people affected across 230 layoffs as of April 13. (layoffs.fyi, trueup.io) In Europe, Tech.eu said on April 13 that it tracked more than 40 tech funding deals worth over €720 million in the previous week. The outlet also said March 2026 produced 292 funding deals and €7.5 billion in capital raised, down from 296 deals and €7.8 billion in February. (tech.eu) That left two markets moving at once in early 2026: employers were shrinking payrolls, while investors were still writing large checks to a narrower group of companies. Tech.eu’s March data showed fewer deals than February but only a modest drop in total capital. (tech.eu) The sector mix also shifted. Tech.eu said artificial intelligence led European funding in March with €1.8 billion, overtaking transportation, while the United Kingdom’s funding fell to €2.6 billion from €3.8 billion a month earlier. (tech.eu) The layoff trackers point to a broader pullback than the funding headlines suggest. TrueUp’s running tally for 2026 already exceeds one-third of its full-year 2025 total of 245,953 people, and it says the daily pace this year is 891 people, up from 674 last year. (trueup.io) Recent entries on TrueUp’s list show the cuts are spread across sectors, not limited to one niche. Its April log includes Qualcomm, GoPro, Pendo, Bolt, Meta, Monzo and Sonos, alongside smaller startups that shut down entirely. (trueup.io) The funding side is concentrated too. Tech.eu’s April 13 recap described more than five exits, mergers and acquisition transactions, and rumors on top of the 40-plus funding deals, pointing to an ecosystem where capital is still moving but through fewer, more selective channels. (tech.eu) The split is not that tech stopped attracting money. It is that, by mid-April 2026, the money and the jobs were flowing in different directions. (layoffs.fyi, trueup.io, tech.eu)
