Layoff tracker remains active
Industry layoff trackers show continued cuts across biotech and other tech‑adjacent sectors, underscoring that private‑sector hiring is uneven even as core Canadian tech markets stay competitive (biospace.com).
BioSpace’s current layoff tracker logs Gossamer Bio’s March reduction of 77 roles — about 48% of the company’s headcount after a failed Phase 3 readout — and notes Israel‑based BiomX “laid off a significant portion” after discontinuing its BX004 program, both entries dated March 20, 2026. (biospace.com) BioSpace also reported that biopharmas together let go or projected fewer than 500 employees in January 2026, a decline of almost 1,000 from January 2025, while separately flagging a Viatris restructuring that could total up to an estimated 3,000 cuts over the coming years in filings disclosed this quarter. (biospace.com) Broader tech trackers show a parallel wave: Layoffs.fyi’s live tracker lists tens of thousands of startup and tech cuts since 2020 (the site displayed a running total of ~38,645 laid‑off tech employees at time of access), underscoring ongoing churn across non‑biotech tech‑adjacent firms. (layoffs.fyi) Industry aggregators report the early‑2026 surge in large tech reductions exceeded 45,000 global job cuts by mid‑March 2026, with multiple trackers and analysts attributing roughly one‑fifth of those cuts (about 9,200 jobs) explicitly to AI and automation‑linked reorganizations. (networkworld.com) At the same time, Canadian tech labor metrics show resilience: CompTIA estimated net Canadian tech employment at about 1,445,188 workers in 2024 (up 1.9% year‑over‑year), and a February 2026 Robert Half survey found 48% of Canadian tech and IT hiring managers plan to increase hiring in 2026, illustrating a sectoral divergence between ongoing cuts in biotech/adjacent firms and pockets of hiring demand in Canadian core tech markets. (comptia.org)
