Job cuts have continued to sweep through the global technology sector as companies adjust to a rapidly changing industry shaped by artificial intelligence. After a tough year that saw more than 120,000 tech workers lose their jobs, many firms are still reducing headcount while shifting investments towards AI and automation.
So far this year, over 35,000 tech employees have been laid off by 50 tech companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. The figures, which track job cuts across the tech sector, are based on data available up to 28 February.
Some of the biggest pink slips came from Oracle, Amazon, and Meta — collectively affecting thousands of employees across different segments and regions. These job cuts, often linked to AI, are implemented by companies as they look for ways to slash expenses.
List of companies that have cut jobs amid AI push
Several major tech companies have announced large-scale workforce reductions this year. Some notable examples of these layoffs include:
— Oracle: The cloud software firm is preparing to lay off thousands of employees across several divisions, according to a Bloomberg report. The job cuts may begin as soon as this month. The move is reportedly a part of efforts to manage a cash crunch linked to Oracle’s massive spending on AI data centres.
— Block: The Jack Dorsey-led company, which is behind Square, Cash App and Afterpay, is laying off nearly half of its staff as part of an overhaul to embrace AI across its operations. As part of the plan, over 4,000 employees will be let go to twitter-tweet “intelligence tools,” Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders.
— Livspace: The Bengaluru-based home interior and renovation platform laid off about 1,000 employees in February, which is about 25% of its 4,000-strong workforce. The unicorn cited its goal to transition to an AI-native, agentic organisation as the reason, according to a Mint report.
— Amazon: The US online retail and cloud computing giant laid off 16,000 corporate employees in January, as part of efforts to streamline operations amid growing competition in AI. This was its second mass layoff since October 2025.
— Nike: The US-based athletic footwear and apparel company laid off 775 employees in January as the company looks to boost its profit and accelerate its use of “automation,” according to CNBC. The layoffs impact distribution centre roles in Tennessee and Mississippi, where the sneaker giant operates large warehouses.
— Meta: In January, the company behind Facebook laid off around 10% of the employees in its Reality Labs division who work on products including the metaverse, as the company shifts priorities to build next-generation artificial intelligence. The segment had around 15,000 employees prior to the job cut, the New York Times reported.
Companies, tech bosses all praise for capabilities of AI
Many technology executives have praised the capabilities of AI, with some noting that in certain areas, technology can be more effective than humans. Similar remarks were made by Brian Chesky, the chief executive of Airbnb, during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
He revealed that the company’s in-house AI agent now handles about a third of customer support requests in North America. Chesky also said that if the global launch of the feature goes well, then he expects that within a year, more than 30% of all customer support queries will be handled by AI.
“We think this is going to be massive because not only does this reduce the cost base of Airbnb customer service, but the quality of service is going to be a huge step change,” Chesky said, suggesting that AI bots are capable of doing a better job than its human counterparts in resolving certain issues.
Similarly, Spotify’s co-chief executive officer Gustav Soderstrom said last month that AI is now deeply twitter-tweetded in the music platform’s engineering workflow, which is tasked with generating and deploying software with minimal human coding. “Our most experienced developers have not written a single line of code since December,” Soderstrom said during the earnings call.
