The new year has opened with fresh signs that job cuts across the global tech sector are far from over, raising questions about how much artificial intelligence is truly driving these decisions.
The wave of tech layoffs has continued into 2026 after a turbulent few years. In 2025, more than 1,23,941 tech employees were laid off across 269 companies, down from 1,50,000 job losses at 549 firms in 2024, according to independent tracker Layoffs.fyi. Several large technology companies cited AI adoption as a key factor behind thousands of job cuts in 2025. A report by a consulting firm found that AI-related restructuring led to at least 55,000 job losses in the US that year.
Looking ahead, 2026 is also expected to see AI-linked layoffs as companies use the technology to write code, deploy AI agents, and automate routine work to cut costs. However, some experts argue that the real effect of AI on jobs may be overstated, even as anxiety around the technology rises.
Reports last week suggested Amazon is planning to cut around 30,000 corporate roles in a second round of layoffs. Employees across AWS, Prime Video, retail, and human resources are expected to be affected, according to a global news agency. This would mark Amazon’s largest job reduction since 2022, when about 27,000 roles were eliminated. In October 2025, the company had already cut roughly 14,000 white-collar jobs.
Amazon has previously linked AI to workforce reductions, stating, “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.” More recently, CEO Andy Jassy said the cuts were “not really financially driven and it’s not even really AI-driven,” pointing instead to excessive bureaucracy. He added, “You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers.”
Meta has also moved ahead with layoffs in 2026. The company plans to cut about 10% of staff in its Reality Labs division, which has around 15,000 employees working on the metaverse, VR headsets, smart glasses, and mixed-reality products. The unit has reportedly lost over USD 60 billion since 2020.
Global leaders remain divided. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned, “We see potential to up of 0.8% boost to growth over the next years, but it is hitting the labor market like a tsunami.” She stressed the need for new skills. In contrast, analysts at a major European bank cautioned that AI-linked layoffs should be taken “with a grain of salt,” adding that “AI redundancy washing will be a significant feature of 2026.”
Sander van’t Noordende, CEO of Randstad, echoed this view, saying, “I would argue that those 50,000 job losses are not driven by AI, but are just driven by the general uncertainty in the market.”
Research remains mixed. A global talent report found concern over AI-driven job loss rose from 28% in 2024 to 40% in 2026, while a 2025 university study showed a 16% decline in employment for graduates in AI-exposed roles. India’s Economic Survey 2023–24 also warned that AI could create a “huge pall of uncertainty,” especially for backend roles such as BPO.
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