During the first four months of 2026, over 70,000 employees at major technology corporations lost their jobs. The largest reductions occurred at Oracle, which laid off 30,000 employees, followed by Amazon, which let go of 16,000 employees. Microsoft (8,750 employees) and Meta’s parent company (8,000 employees) also implemented significant workforce reductions. Additionally, the downsizing affected the fintech project Block (4,000 employees), logistics developer WiseTech (2,000 employees), microchip equipment manufacturer ASML (1,700 employees), and enterprise software developer Atlassian (1,600 employees). Previously, mass layoffs were typically attributed to macroeconomic factors or the consequences of over-hiring.
However, companies are now openly acknowledging that the introduction of artificial intelligence is driving these workforce changes. Technology corporations are automating routine tasks, enabling them to reduce personnel numbers while reallocating the savings into developing physical infrastructure, such as new data centers to support neural networks. These workforce changes are closely tied to record capital expenditures on computing infrastructure.
According to analysts, Meta and Microsoft’s budgets for artificial intelligence infrastructure development in 2026 will reach $110–130 billion each. Workforce optimization helps offset the significant hardware investments. Financial markets have positively reacted to such measures. For example, following Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s announcement linking a 40% headcount reduction to AI-driven productivity increases, the company’s stock rose by 20%.