A growing number of companies are citing artificial intelligence and automation as reasons for cutting staff.
In many cases, executives said AI systems are replacing key roles and allowing teams to operate with fewer people.
We reviewed hundreds of company disclosures, earnings calls, and major media reporting to identify layoffs where AI or automation was directly named as a driver.
More than 180,000 employees have been affected by AI-related layoffs in 2026
More people than ever are at risk of losing their jobs due to advancements in AI.
Just ten months into the year, that’s already about 22% more than 2025’s full-year total.
The number of AI-related layoffs has increased by 4x since 2024
The exact number of global AI layoffs is hard to quantify. Nonetheless, based on announcements from high-profile organizations, the figure has skyrocketed in a very short space of time.
In 2024, announcements from eight companies covered approximately 43,000 AI-related job cuts, including Citigroup’s 20,000-role target and Dell’s 12,500.
That number more than tripled in 2025, to over 150,000.
In the first ten months of 2026, more than 180,000 roles have already been cut.
How we count: each cut is attributed to the year it was announced. Entries covering several rounds are split by round using the figures in the entry, and announced multi-year targets are counted in the year they were announced.
In total, 60+ CEOs have announced layoffs due to efficiencies made by AI
AI-based layoffs are becoming increasingly widespread.
Since 2024, at least 11 companies have announced AI-related layoffs affecting 10,000+ employees each.
These include:
- Accenture
- Amazon
- Citigroup
- Dell
- HSBC
- Intel
- Microsoft
- Meta
- Oracle
- TCS
- UPS
More than 60% of announced layoffs occurred at companies with over 100,000 employees
And AI layoff announcements aren’t restricted to tech companies either. They’re coming from industries like finance, logistics, consulting, media, retail, and manufacturing.
Major Recent AI-Related Layoffs and Hiring Freezes
Below is a company-by-company breakdown showing who cut or froze roles, how many employees were affected, and how AI factored into each decision.
Accenture
No. of Employees Impacted: 11,000
Industry: IT Consulting
Date: September 2025
Accenture cut roughly 11,000 roles. On its September 2025 earnings call, CEO Julie Sweet said the firm was “in a very compressed talent timeline where we don’t have a viable path for skilling, sort of exiting people so we can get more of the skills in we need.”
Acrisure
No. of Employees Impacted: 2,650
Industry: Fintech
Date: October 2025, May 2026
Acrisure cut 11% of its workforce in May 2026, after 400 accounting roles in October 2025. CEO Greg Williams said, “We made our first scaled AI investment in 2020, and as other leading organizations accelerate in this direction, we must continue to push the pace.”
Amazon
No. of Employees Impacted: 30,000
Industry: Technology / E-commerce
Date: October 2025, January 2026
Amazon eliminated about 14,000 corporate jobs in late 2025 and a further 16,000 in January 2026. Senior Vice President Beth Galetti pointed to advances in AI as one reason the company could operate more efficiently with fewer people.
Angi
No. of Employees Impacted: 350
Industry: Digital Services
Date: January 2026
Angi cut around 350 jobs. The company said the layoffs were made “in light of AI-driven efficiency improvements.“
ASML
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,700
Industry: Technology
Date: January 2026
ASML cut 1,700 jobs (3.8% of staff), with a further 1,300 planned, while announcing record orders driven by the AI boom. CFO Roger Dassen said: “As our FY 2025 financial results demonstrate, we are choosing to make these changes at a moment of strength.”
Atlassian
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,600
Industry: Technology
Date: March 2026
Atlassian cut 10% of its global workforce, attributing the change to the “AI era”. Founder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said team members with “transferable skills” were spared.
Baker McKenzie
No. of Employees Impacted: 600
Industry: Law
Date: February 2026
Baker McKenzie cut approximately 600 business services roles, under 10% of that team globally. A spokesperson said: “This review was aimed at rethinking the ways in which we work, including through our use of AI, introducing efficiencies, and investing in those roles that best serve our clients’ needs.”
BlackRock
No. of Employees Impacted: 300
Industry: Financial Services
Date: June 2025
BlackRock cut roughly 300 roles while shifting resources toward technology and data-driven systems, adding to 200 redundancies in January 2025.
Block
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,000
Industry: Fintech
Date: February 2026
Block cut its headcount from about 10,000 to fewer than 6,000. CEO Jack Dorsey wrote in a shareholder letter that “intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company.”
C.H. Robinson Worldwide
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,400
Industry: Logistics
Date: October 2025
C.H. Robinson cut about 1,400 jobs after rolling out AI-driven tools for pricing, scheduling, and shipment tracking. CEO Dave Bozeman and other executives cited productivity improvements from automation.
Chegg
No. of Employees Impacted: 388
Industry: Education Technology
Date: October 2025
Chegg cut 388 roles, about 45% of its workforce. The company said in a press release: “The new realities of AI and reduced traffic from Google to content publishers have led to a significant decline in Chegg’s traffic and revenue.”
Chime
No. of Employees Impacted: 150
Industry: Fintech
Date: July 2026
Chime cut 150 employees. CEO Chris Britt said that “AI is changing what’s possible but requires new skills”.
Cisco
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,000
Industry: Technology
Date: August 2025, May 2026
Cisco cut around 4,000 jobs in May 2026, after more than 6,000 in 2024, shifting focus toward AI-driven networking and security products. CFO Scott Herren cited a “need to pivot more resources into the fastest-growth areas of our business”.
Citigroup
No. of Employees Impacted: 20,000 (target)
Industry: Financial Services
Date: January 2024 (target by end of 2026)
CFO Mark Mason said in January 2024 that Citigroup expected headcount to fall by roughly 20,000 by the end of 2026 as part of a broad overhaul. The bank said automation and AI-enabled systems would let it run middle-office and operational functions with fewer employees.
Cloudflare
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,100
Industry: Computing
Date: May 2026
Despite record revenue, Cloudflare cut over 1,100 jobs. CEO Matthew Prince said AI had made the roles obsolete, and published a WSJ opinion piece on the subject. The company described the shift as a move toward “an agentic AI era.“
Coinbase
No. of Employees Impacted: 700
Industry: Fintech
Date: May 2026
Coinbase cut around 14% of its workforce. CEO Brian Armstrong said the layoffs were at least partly due to Coinbase needing to become “AI-native”.
Commerzbank
No. of Employees Impacted: 3,000
Industry: Banking
Date: May 2026
Commerzbank announced it would cut around 3,000 positions. According to the bank’s press release, “AI will enable it to free up and partially redeploy around 10% of its capacities.”
Crowdstrike
No. of Employees Impacted: 500
Industry: Cybersecurity
Date: May 2025
CrowdStrike cut 5% of its staff. An SEC filing cited “AI efficiency” among the reasons.
Crypto.com
No. of Employees Impacted: 180
Industry: Fintech
Date: March 2026
Crypto.com cut about 180 employees, 12% of its workforce. CEO Kris Marszalek wrote on X: “Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top-performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible.”
Danske Bank
No. of Employees Impacted: 682
Industry: Banking
Date: February 2026, May 2026
Danske Bank cut 420 positions in February 2026 and 262 positions in May 2026. According to the bank’s May 2026 announcement, “Over the past year, we have achieved significant efficiencies, including increased use of digital tools and AI based solutions that help handle simpler tasks more efficiently.”
DeepL
No. of Employees Impacted: 250
Industry: Software
Date: May 2026
DeepL cut about 250 employees. CEO Jarek Kutylowski wrote in a memo: “We are currently living through a massive structural shift in what work exists, who does it, and how many people it takes to do it well, and that shift is because of AI.”
Dell Technologies
No. of Employees Impacted: 23,500
Industry: Technology / Hardware
Date: August 2024, March 2026
Dell cut roughly 12,500 jobs in 2024 and continued reorganizing around demand for AI servers and infrastructure. Sales and operations teams were reshaped as automation reduced the need for some roles; total workforce fell about 10% in 2026.
DNB
No. of Employees Impacted: 400
Industry: Banking
Date: October 2026
DNB announced it would cut about 400 full-time positions in its Technology & Services unit. According to CEO Kjerstin Braathen, “AI is changing the way we work and how we deliver services to our customers. We are already seeing considerable gains, and are therefore adapting our organisation to a new reality.”
Dropbox
No. of Employees Impacted: 528
Industry: Software
Date: October 2024
Dropbox laid off 528 employees while refocusing on AI-powered search and productivity tools. CEO Drew Houston cited the desire to build a flatter, more efficient team structure.
Dow
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,500
Industry: Chemicals/Materials
Date: January 2026
Dow announced 4,500 job cuts as its focus shifts to AI, following about 1,500 cuts announced in January 2025 as part of a $1 billion savings target.
ERGO (Munich Re)
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,000
Industry: Insurance
Date: February 2026
ERGO will not replace 1,000 of its roughly 15,000 German staff as they leave, under a plan running through 2030. It supports Munich Re’s Ambition 2030 strategy, which targets €600 million in annual savings while expanding AI across underwriting, pricing, and investment management.
E.W. Scripps
No. of Employees Impacted: 268
Industry: Communication Services / Media
Date: August 2025
E.W. Scripps cut 12% of its workforce as part of a move toward becoming an “AI-powered broadcast journalism company.” The restructuring is projected to save $100 million annually.
Elastic
No. of Employees Impacted: 281
Industry: Software
Date: June 2026
Elastic cut approximately 7% of its workforce. CEO Ash Kulkarni told employees: “Advances in AI and automation are letting us operate with leaner teams.”
FICO
No. of Employees Impacted: 572
Industry: Software
Date: October 2026
FICO cut approximately 15% of its workforce. According to the company’s SEC filing, the plan includes “integrating AI-driven product development.”
Fiverr
No. of Employees Impacted: 250
Industry: Online Marketplace
Date: September 2025
Fiverr cut about 250 roles, roughly 30% of its workforce. CEO Micha Kaufman wrote that the company was becoming “an AI-first company that’s leaner, faster, with a modern AI-focused tech infrastructure, a smaller team, each with substantially greater productivity, and far fewer management layers.”
Freshworks
No. of Employees Impacted: 500
Industry: Software
Date: May 2026
Freshworks cut approximately 500 employees, 11% of its global workforce. CEO Dennis Woodside told employees: “We’ve invested heavily in technology, systems, and AI to work more efficiently. Our systems can now handle many of the manual tasks and fragmented handoffs that once required multiple teams to manage.”
GB News
No. of Employees Impacted: 90
Industry: Media
Date: July 2026
GB News cut up to 90 roles, more than a third of its 260 staff, as it introduced automated production workflows.
General Motors
No. of Employees Impacted: 600
Industry: Automotive
Date: May 2026
General Motors let go of over 10% of its IT department to hire workers with stronger AI skills. A company email said, “GM is transforming its Information Technology organization to better position the company for the future.”
Gitlab
No. of Employees Impacted: 350
Industry: Software
Date: June 2026
GitLab cut around 14% of its workforce as it leans on AI agents, with savings largely directed toward investment in AI products.
Goldman Sachs
No. of Employees Impacted: Not disclosed
Industry: Financial Services
Date: November 2025
Goldman Sachs told employees to expect job cuts as it pushed to benefit from AI-driven productivity. The bank did not release figures but linked future reductions to automation and efficiency gains.
Google Cloud
No. of Employees Impacted: 100+
Industry: Technology
Date: October 2025, 2026
Google Cloud eliminated more than 100 design and user-experience roles while redirecting resources toward AI engineering and infrastructure, saying the changes were needed to support growth without adding headcount. Further cuts were reported in 2026.
Grammarly
No. of Employees Impacted: 230
Industry: Software
Date: February 2024
Grammarly laid off approximately 230 employees in a restructuring it said would align teams and resources with its strategic priorities around AI.
Groupon
No. of Employees Impacted: 400
Industry: Online Marketplace
Date: May 2026
Groupon cut up to 400 positions, including employees and contractors. According to the company’s SEC filing, the plan relates to its “strategy to rebuild the Company as an AI-native company.”
HSBC
No. of Employees Impacted: Up to 20,000 (multi-year, under review)
Industry: Banking
Date: March 2026
HSBC plans to cut approximately 10% of its global workforce in an AI overhaul. CEO Georges Elhedery’s message to staff was “don’t fight AI,” as the bank prioritises AI skills training.
HP Inc.
No. of Employees Impacted: 6,000
Industry: Technology
Date: November 2025
HP announced workforce reductions tied to AI-driven productivity efforts, targeting $1 billion in savings by the end of fiscal 2028. Leadership tied the layoffs to reorganizing around AI strategy and skill sets.
IBM
No. of Employees Impacted: 2,000–3,000
Industry: Technology
Date: November 2025
IBM said AI agents had replaced hundreds of back-office roles and confirmed further cuts as it shifted talent toward AI and quantum computing. CEO Arvind Krishna described the layoffs as a direct outcome of automation.
ING Group
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,000 at risk
Industry: Banking
Date: October 2025
ING cut 230 jobs in June 2025 and said up to 1,000 further roles could be eliminated as digital banking tools and AI reduced staffing needs in support functions.
Intel
No. of Employees Impacted: 24,000
Industry: Semiconductors
Date: July 2025
Intel announced large-scale layoffs as it redirected capital toward AI chips and advanced manufacturing.
Intuit
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,800
Industry: Software
Date: July 2025, May 2026
Intuit cut headcount in July 2025 and announced a larger round of roughly 3,000 jobs in May 2026. CEO Sasan Goodarzi described the earlier move as enabling the company to allocate investment toward its most critical strategic areas.
Jumia
No. of Employees Impacted: 200
Industry: E-commerce
Date: May 2026
Jumia cut about 200 jobs, 10% of its workforce. According to the company’s first-quarter results release, AI-driven automation “enabled a reduction in our headcount.”
Just Eat Takeaway
No. of Employees Impacted: 450
Industry: Food Delivery
Date: September 2025
Just Eat Takeaway cut about 450 jobs. The company said it is integrating automation and AI into its processes, including moving manual customer service tasks to automated systems.
Klarna
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,200
Industry: Fintech
Date: August 2024
Klarna’s headcount fell from about 5,000 to 3,800 through attrition rather than layoffs, with a stated target of around 2,000. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said: “Not only can we do more with less, but we can do much more with less.” Klarna has since begun rehiring human customer service staff.
Lufthansa
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,000 (planned)
Industry: Aviation
Date: By 2030
Lufthansa said it would eliminate 4,000 administrative roles by 2030. The company said, “Profound changes brought about by digitization and the increased use of artificial intelligence will lead to greater efficiency in many areas and processes”.
Meta
No. of Employees Impacted: 10,000+
Industry: Media & Technology
Date: February 2026, April 2026, May 2026
Meta laid off approximately 8,000 employees (about 10% of its workforce) in May 2026, the largest of several rounds this year, while moving around 7,000 into AI-focused roles. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff the cuts were necessary because “success isn’t a given” in AI.
Mews
No. of Employees Impacted: 170
Industry: Software
Date: July 2026
Mews cut 15% of its staff in what it called a “proactive decision” to use AI to increase workforce productivity.
McKinsey & Company
No. of Employees Impacted: 200
Industry: Consulting
Date: November 2025
McKinsey laid off around 200 internal technology and support employees after automating non-client-facing work with AI. Affected employees were offered retraining in AI and data analytics.
Microsoft
No. of Employees Impacted: 28,000
Industry: Technology
Date: July 2025, April 2026, July 2026
Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees (about 4% of its workforce) in July 2025, following 6,000 earlier that year, as it shifted resources toward AI infrastructure. It then offered voluntary buyouts to over 8,000 longtime employees in April 2026 and cut a further 4,800 roles (2.1%) in July 2026, most in Xbox, as AI and data center spending pressured free cash flow.
Monday.com
No. of Employees Impacted: 620
Industry: Software
Date: July 2026
Monday.com cut 20% of its global workforce, around 350 of them in Israel, as it reorganizes around an “AI Work Platform” strategy. Co-CEO Eran Zinman told employees that “AI is transforming the role of software”.
Omnicom Group
No. of Employees Impacted: 4,000
Industry: Media & Advertising
Date: December 2025
Omnicom announced major layoffs following its acquisition of Interpublic Group. Chairman and CEO John Wren pointed to generative AI as giving the company “fresh agility and scale”.
Ocado
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,000
Industry: E-commerce
Date: March 2026
Ocado plans to cut 1,000 roles from its roughly 20,000-strong workforce. “We have largely completed a very significant phase of investment in our robotics and automation capabilities,” said chief executive Tim Steiner.
On the Beach
No. of Employees Impacted: 108
Industry: Travel
Date: March 2026
On the Beach cut 108 roles. According to CEO Shaun Morton, “some of our processes can now be automated.”
Oracle
No. of Employees Impacted: 21,000
Industry: Software
Date: April 2026 (confirmed June 2026), September 2026
Oracle’s annual SEC filing showed 21,000 workers were let go in AI-related restructuring, after The Next Web estimated cuts could reach 30,000. A further round followed in September 2026.
Paycom
No. of Employees Impacted: 500+
Industry: HR Software
Date: October 2025
Paycom laid off more than 500 employees after automating payroll and back-office functions. Staff were told their roles had been replaced by AI-driven systems.
PayPal
No. of Employees Impacted: 7,000
Industry: Fintech
Date: January 2024, 2026-2028
PayPal plans to cut around 20% of staff over two to three years to “fund a $1.5 billion AI transformation,” following a 9% reduction in 2024. CEO Alex Chriss said PayPal needed to “drive more focus and efficiency, deploy automation, and consolidate our technology to reduce complexity and duplication”.
No. of Employees Impacted: 800
Industry: Media & Social
Date: January 2026
Pinterest cut 15% of its workforce, around 800 people. A spokesperson said the company was “making organizational changes to further deliver on our AI-forward strategy, which includes hiring AI-proficient talent.”
Proximus
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,200 (planned by 2030)
Industry: Telecommunications
Date: February 2026
Proximus plans to cut 1,200 jobs by 2030. According to the company’s press release, “Proximus will reimagine its way of working and focus on efficiency through simplification and AI, driving workload reductions.”
Rackspace Technology
No. of Employees Impacted: 750
Industry: IT Services
Date: June 2026
Rackspace cut 750 workers, 15% of its global workforce. According to the company’s SEC filing, the plan is “intended to accelerate the Company’s strategic transformation as the operator for governed enterprise AI.”
Rapid7
No. of Employees Impacted: 300
Industry: Cybersecurity
Date: August 2026
Rapid7’s board approved a restructuring plan cutting about 12% of its workforce, roughly 300 jobs. CEO Wael Mohamed said he plans to reposition the company toward “our core platform and the AI foundation that connects it.”
Recruit Holdings
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,300
Industry: Recruitment
Date: July 2025
Recruit Holdings, owner of Indeed and Glassdoor, cut 1,300 jobs (about 6% of its global workforce). CEO Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba said “AI is changing the world”.
SAP
No. of Employees Impacted: 3,000
Industry: Enterprise Software
Date: January 2024 (announced), April 2025 (departures confirmed)
SAP announced a restructuring covering 8,000 roles, later expanded to as many as 10,000, of which 3,000 had left by April 2025. The company said the program would “capture organizational synergies, AI-driven efficiencies and to prepare the company for highly scalable future revenue growth.”
Salesforce
No. of Employees Impacted: 5,000
Industry: Enterprise Software
Date: August 2025, February 2026
Salesforce cut around 4,000 customer support roles in 2025 and a further 1,000 in early 2026. CEO Marc Benioff said the cuts were possible because AI agents now handle about 50% of customer interactions, allowing the company to “rebalance” headcount.
Snap
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,000
Industry: Social Media
Date: April 2026
Snap cut around 1,000 roles, expecting to reduce annualized costs by $500 million by the end of 2026. CEO Evan Spiegel told employees that “rapid advancements in artificial intelligence” allow smaller teams to do the same work.
Standard Chartered
No. of Employees Impacted: 7,800 (planned through 2030)
Industry: Finance
Date: May 2026
Standard Chartered plans to make around 15% of back-office employees redundant by 2030. CEO Bill Winters spoke of replacing “lower-value human capital” with machines, comments he later apologised for.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
No. of Employees Impacted: 12,000
Industry: IT Services
Date: July 2025
TCS cut about 2% of its workforce in 2025. The company cited automation and AI productivity programs as reasons for reducing staffing in some delivery and support functions.
Telefónica Deutschland
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,100
Industry: Telecommunications
Date: July 2026
Telefónica Deutschland announced it would cut up to 1,100 full-time positions by the end of 2026. CEO Santiago Argelich Hesse said the company was simplifying the organisation, consolidating activities and intensifying the use of artificial intelligence.
TikTok
No. of Employees Impacted: Hundreds
Industry: Media / Social
Date: August 2025
TikTok reduced trust and safety staffing as automated moderation systems replaced parts of the review process.
Uber
No. of Employees Impacted: 3,300
Industry: Transportation
Date: September 2026
Uber cut around 10% of its workforce, about 3,300 people. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a memo: “We are removing layers, simplifying team structures, refining our global location strategy, and focusing our people and investments against the biggest opportunities ahead of us.” The memo did not mention AI; the cuts came three months after Uber capped usage of AI coding tools to control costs.
UPS
No. of Employees Impacted: 78,000
Industry: Logistics
Date: November 2025, January 2026
UPS significantly reduced its operational workforce and closed 93 facilities in the first nine months of 2025. A further 30,000 jobs were reported at risk as of January 2026 in AI-led restructuring.
Verizon
No. of Employees Impacted: Undisclosed
Industry: Telecommunications
Date: June 2026
Verizon cut 13,000 jobs in late 2025 as part of a move toward becoming an “AI-first” company, with hundreds more confirmed in May 2026 as it applies AI to customer service roles.
Vertex
No. of Employees Impacted: 170
Industry: Software
Date: April 2026
Vertex cut approximately 170 employees, 9% of its global workforce. According to the company’s SEC filing, the plan is “intended to become a more AI-enabled company.”
Visa
No. of Employees Impacted: 2,600
Industry: Financial Services
Date: July 2026
Visa cut roughly 7% of its workforce, primarily in technology and product teams. In a memo to staff, CEO Ryan McInerney tied the restructuring to AI “shaping the way work gets done at Visa”.
WiseTech Global
No. of Employees Impacted: 2,000
Industry: Software
Date: February 2026
WiseTech Global announced it would cut about 2,000 jobs, 29% of its workforce. CEO Zubin Appoo said: “I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over.”
Wix
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,000
Industry: Software
Date: May 2026
Wix cut approximately 1,000 employees, 20% of its workforce. CEO Avishai Abrahami cited “the fast evolution of AI capabilities” in a message to employees.
Workday
No. of Employees Impacted: 1,750
Industry: Enterprise Software
Date: February 2025
Workday cut around 8.5% of its workforce in a restructuring that prioritises investment in AI and platform development.
Xerox
No. of Employees Impacted: 3,000
Industry: Technology
Date: January 2024
Xerox laid off 15% of its employees as automation reshaped its print and services businesses, saying the changes were intended to increase productivity and efficiency.
YouTube (Alphabet)
No. of Employees Impacted: Voluntary exits
Industry: Online Media
Date: October 2025
YouTube offered buyouts in a reorganization that split its product teams into three divisions reporting to CEO Neal Mohan, with the goal of accelerating AI development and integration.
Conclusion
Our list likely understates the full impact of AI on employment. Many companies bundle AI-driven reductions into broader restructuring announcements, while others avoid attributing layoffs directly to automation. Also, smaller companies typically don’t announce layoffs of any kind (including those related to AI).