Meta and Microsoft announced this week the cutting of more than 16,000 positions as they accelerate their bet on artificial intelligence. The layoffs add to a wave that already eliminated nearly 246,000 tech jobs in 2025 and exceeds 95,000 so far in 2026.
In March, Oracle notified thousands of employees via email in the early morning hours that their positions were being eliminated with immediate effect as part of a “broader organizational shift.” The company did not publicly confirm the number of affected individuals; reports from various media outlets place the figure between 10,000 and 30,000 people. Oracle had disclosed a restructuring plan with an estimated cost of up to $2.1 billion, including severance pay.
For its part, Amazon has accumulated at least 30,000 layoffs since October 2025, representing nearly 10% of its corporate and technical workforce. The company executed the cuts in several rounds, with two major waves in May and July of last year.
Meta’s projected cut
Meta revealed on April 23 that it will slash 10% of its workforce (about 8,000 roles) by May 20, while simultaneously halting the recruitment of 6,000 new positions. According to internal communications, the restructuring is designed to streamline operations and reallocate capital toward AI. This shift is reflected in Meta’s 2026 budget, with projected capital spending hitting $135 billion—an 87% year-over-year increase.
In January, the company had already cut 1,500 positions in its Reality Labs division, focused on the development of the metaverse.
Microsoft’s voluntary retirement plan
Following Meta’s lead, Microsoft announced that it is offering voluntary buyout packages to roughly 7% of its U.S. staff, potentially affecting 8,750 employees. This latest reduction compounds a series of 2025 layoffs that eliminated 15,000 positions. These workforce adjustments coincide with a massive capital pivot; the tech giant poured approximately $88 billion into AI infrastructure last year while deepening its strategic alliance with OpenAI.
More specialized demand
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon plan to collectively invest nearly $700 billion in AI infrastructure during 2026. The four companies will report quarterly results this week.
The transition exerts more pressure on entry-level profiles. A study by Motion Recruitment notes that AI adoption slows down hiring for generalist and entry-level roles, while specialists in machine learning and AI engineering record high demand and salaries up to 56% higher than the sector average.
Despite the pessimistic news, the medium-term outlook seems to point in a direction different from collapse. The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, automation will eliminate 92 million positions globally, but will create 170 million new roles. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that occupations in technology and computing will grow by 12.4% between 2024 and 2034, compared to the 3.1% projected for the rest of the economy.
What is changing is the profile the market seeks. Roles such as AI engineer, big data specialist, and cloud architect lead the list of booming jobs for 2026. Mentions of AI in job offers in the United States grew by 56% in 2025. BCG concludes in a recent report that the automation of tasks does not equate to job elimination but to a transformation.
Economist Desmond Lachman, from the American Enterprise Institute, warned that AI “is already causing significant layoffs, especially among entry-level workers.” But TechTarget, citing market evidence, points out that a large part of the cuts in the tech sector since 2022 respond to the correction of pandemic over-hiring, not exclusively to automation.