Just five months into 2026, more than 92,000 tech workers have already lost their jobs, showing how deep the latest round of layoffs has become in the global technology industry.
April turned out to be the worst month for tech layoffs in the last two years, with more than 45,000 employees affected.
Major companies such as Meta, Snap, Microsoft, Oracle, Block, Amazon, Nike and GoPro have announced job cuts this year.
Most companies are blaming AI-driven efficiencies, cost control and over-hiring during the Covid period for the latest layoffs.
The industry has not seen such intense job cuts since the post-pandemic correction of 2022 and 2023.
Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Microsoft Offers Voluntary Exits
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, made one of the biggest moves. On April 22, the company informed employees that around 8,000 workers, nearly 10 percent of its global workforce, would have to leave the firm by May 20.
The company is also keeping around 6,000 open roles unfilled. At the same time, Meta has committed massive capital expenditure for its AI push.
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, also joined the layoff wave. The company said it would cut around 1,000 jobs, equal to nearly 16 percent of its full-time workforce, and leave another 300 roles permanently unfilled.
CEO Evan Spiegel said AI technology now generates more than 65 percent of Snap’s code, allowing the company to work with smaller and more focused teams.
Snap is reportedly targeting more than $500 million in annual savings by the second half of the year.
Microsoft has taken a different route. The company has opened a voluntary exit option for thousands of long-serving employees in the US. This is said to be the first retirement buyout programme in Microsoft’s 50-year history.
The programme could affect nearly 8,750 employees, or around 7 percent of Microsoft’s US workforce. It mainly targets employees whose combined age and years of service total at least 70.
Amazon, Oracle And Block Also Cut Deep
Amazon has also carried out massive layoffs in phases, cutting nearly 30,000 corporate jobs within about six months.
The company first removed around 14,000 roles in October, followed by another 16,000 in January. Amazon described the move as an effort to reduce bureaucracy.
Oracle also faced backlash after sending termination emails to employees across its global offices. Workers in the US, India and Canada reportedly received layoff emails early in the morning.
The company has been under pressure due to heavy spending on AI infrastructure, including data centres and computing capacity.
Analysts have also raised concerns over Oracle’s growing AI-related debt, making workforce reductions more of a financial necessity.
Meanwhile, Block Inc., led by Jack Dorsey, announced one of the sharpest cuts. The company plans to reduce nearly 40 percent of its workforce, affecting more than 4,000 employees.
“We’re not making this decision because we’re in trouble,” Dorsey reportedly told employees, in a message that drew wide attention for its direct tone.
AI Changing Workplace Structures
Industry executives believe artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how companies organise work and manage teams.
Tools like ChatGPT and Claude are increasingly showing how several workflows and functions can be automated.
Experts say this is not just a short-term cost-cutting phase, but the beginning of a permanent change in how work is done across industries.
Job Anxiety Rising Among Tech Workers
Job anxiety is also rising sharply among tech employees. The Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index reportedly showed a fall in confidence among technology workers, dropping to 47.2 percent in March.
Fewer employees are now leaving jobs voluntarily because of market uncertainty and fear of instability. This has allowed companies to take a more aggressive approach toward layoffs and stricter performance reviews.
Glassdoor’s chief economist Daniel Zhao said that because natural attrition has slowed down, companies are becoming more aggressive in pushing people out.
Big Tech Still Spending Huge On AI
Despite the layoffs, big technology companies are continuing to spend heavily on AI.
Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft are collectively expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on capital expenditure this year.
The amount is more than double what the same group spent two years ago, when AI spending was already considered aggressive.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to spend nearly $700 billion combined in 2026 to meet the growing demand for AI services.
The message from the industry is clear: companies are cutting people on one side and investing heavily in AI on the other. For tech workers, 2026 has become a year of fear, uncertainty and rapid change.
