"If you opened a tech newsletter or even the internet in early 2026 and thought you'd stepped into a dystopian screenplay, or you are the main character in one of Isaac Asimov's writings, you wouldn't be alone. Headlines trumpet layoffs, companies blame "AI transformation," and somewhere in the background, billionaires cheer hot-off-the-press artificial intelligence strategies. Here's the uncomfortable truth: people are still losing their jobs, while gets most of the credit."
"According to the most recent tracking data, the pace of layoffs in tech remains high in 2026. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that U.S. employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January 2026, the strongest January for layoffs since 2009, and more than double the total from the same month a year earlier. Let's put some names to these numbers because real humans were behind them. In late January 2026, Amazon confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts, part of a wider reduction that has already seen tens of thousands of roles eliminated since late 2025."
"Revenue was high, investment in AI infrastructure was soaring, and yet people were still shown the door. Salesforce, a company that frequently boasts about its AI products, quietly cut fewer than 1,000 jobs across teams, including marketing and product roles. These cuts even hit a division tied to their own AI products, which had been touted internally as strategic. Layoff reports also include giants like Meta and Block, financial institutions, and even non-tech conglomerates retrenching under cost pressures."
Layoff activity in the tech sector surged in early 2026, with U.S. employers announcing 108,435 job cuts in January 2026, the strongest January since 2009 and more than double the total from the same month a year earlier. Major companies implemented reductions: Amazon confirmed 16,000 corporate cuts amid broader eliminations, and Salesforce eliminated fewer than 1,000 roles including teams tied to its own AI offerings. Revenue and investment in AI infrastructure remained high even as firms cited AI transformation and automation as rationale. Layoff notices span social platforms, payments firms, financial institutions and non-tech conglomerates, with corporate messaging framing reductions as part of an AI focus.
Read at TNW | Insider
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