From January 1 to April 2026, 78,557 workers were laid off in the technology industry, with over 76% of the job losses occurring in the United States.
From January 1 to April 2026, 78,557 workers were laid off in the technology industry, with over 76% of the job losses occurring in the United States.
37,638 of these layoffs (or 47.9%) are related to the reduction in the need for workers due to the introduction of artificial intelligence and automation of work processes, writes Tom's Hardware.
Some experts believe it will be more than a year before the full impact of modern AI technologies on the labor market can be seen. In addition, there is uncertainty about whether companies will see real productivity gains.
“You know, sometimes AI becomes a scapegoat from a financial point of view. For example, when a company has hired too many people or wants to change its size, then they blame AI for everything,” says Babak Hojat, Cognizant’s chief artificial intelligence officer.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously expressed a similar view. He believes that companies are “being laundered by AI.” He also believes that the technology’s true impact on jobs will be visible in a few years.
According to tech industry tracking service Layoffs.fyi, the five largest Big Tech giants (Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Apple) added nearly 1 million new employees worldwide during the pandemic. Then, starting in 2022, they announced a combined total of more than 100,000 layoffs. That figure doesn't include this year's layoffs.
