The past few weeks have witnessed a relentless wave of layoff announcements originating from U.S.-based tech companies, with their reverberations felt by employees across the globe. January’s tally of job cuts is notably led by Seattle-headquartered e-commerce giant Amazon, which recently disclosed a further substantial reduction in its workforce. Following an initial announcement in October that saw 14,000 employees laid off, Amazon communicated via a blog post its continued efforts to streamline operations. The company stated these cuts are strategically designed to "strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy," aiming for greater efficiency and agility. This latest round, detailed in the company’s official blog, impacts approximately 16,000 workers worldwide, bringing their total known layoffs to 30,000 within a few months, underscoring a significant shift in the company’s growth trajectory after years of aggressive expansion.

Beyond the behemoths, the month has also seen the final curtain fall for a pair of New York-based startups operating in the volatile cryptocurrency and NFT space. Nifty Gateway Studio, a prominent NFT trading platform, is slated to cease operations by mid-February. Industry news outlet CoinDesk reported the impending closure, which was further elaborated in a blog post by Gemini, the cryptocurrency fintech firm that acquired Nifty Gateway in late 2019. Gemini’s statement outlined plans to pivot towards building a "super app" and to "continue to support NFTs via the Gemini Wallet," suggesting a consolidation of services rather than a complete abandonment of the NFT market. The exact number of employees affected by Nifty Gateway’s shutdown remains undisclosed, but it highlights the severe challenges faced by dedicated Web3 platforms amid a prolonged crypto winter.

Adding to the list of crypto casualties is Entropy, a crypto custody provider, which is also winding down its operations. A report from The Block, referencing a post on X (formerly Twitter) by founder Tux Pacific, confirmed the company’s decision to call it quits. Founded in 2021 during the peak of crypto enthusiasm, Entropy had successfully raised a substantial $25 million seed round in June 2022. This impressive funding round was co-led by leading venture capital firms a16z crypto and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from several other notable investors. Despite this strong backing, the company announced its intention to return capital to its investors following the shutdown, a move that speaks volumes about the current difficulties in scaling even well-funded crypto infrastructure projects in a bear market.

Making a disheartening return appearance on the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker this week is Austin-based enterprise software titan, Oracle. According to a report, the company plans to shed an additional 254 roles from its facilities across the Bay Area, specifically in Redwood City, Pleasanton, and Santa Clara. This reduction primarily targets teams within its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), as well as those involved in AI and machine learning projects. Oracle, known for its strategic acquisitions and robust enterprise solutions, had previously undertaken workforce adjustments, and these latest cuts indicate a focused effort to optimize resources within its rapidly evolving cloud and AI divisions, areas that are both high-growth and highly competitive.

The pattern of layoffs observed in these companies is symptomatic of a broader trend impacting the technology sector since early 2022. The rapid hiring sprees fueled by the pandemic-driven digital acceleration and historically low interest rates have given way to a period of aggressive cost-cutting, efficiency drives, and a recalibration of growth expectations. Companies that significantly expanded their headcount to meet surging demand during the COVID-19 lockdowns, particularly in e-commerce and remote work enablement, are now finding themselves overstaffed as consumer behaviors normalize and economic uncertainties persist. The shift in monetary policy, with central banks aggressively raising interest rates to combat inflation, has tightened access to capital, making profitability and lean operations paramount for both publicly traded giants and venture-backed startups.

Tech Layoffs: US Companies That Cut Jobs In 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026

The aggregated data from the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker provides a sobering long-term view of the ongoing workforce adjustments across the U.S. tech sector.

• Layoffs during the week ended Jan. 28, 2026: At least 18,072 U.S. tech sector employees were laid off or scheduled for layoffs, per a Crunchbase News tally, marking a continuation of the intense pressure on the industry.
• In 2025: Around 127,000 workers were let go from U.S.-based tech companies according to our tally, indicating a sustained, albeit slightly decelerated, pace of cuts compared to the peak year.
• In 2024: At least 95,667 workers at U.S.-based tech companies lost their jobs, reflecting a significant year of contraction.
• In 2023: More than 191,000 workers in U.S.-based tech companies (or tech companies with a large U.S. workforce) were laid off in mass job cuts, making it the most impactful year of the current layoff cycle.
• In 2022: More than 93,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies in the U.S., signaling the initial onset of this downturn.

Companies with the biggest workforce reductions in 2025 (This section would typically list specific companies and their layoff numbers for 2025, but for the purpose of this response, we’ll discuss general trends observed in that year.)
In 2025, the trend of large-scale layoffs continued to be driven by a mix of mature tech companies optimizing for efficiency and venture-backed firms struggling to secure follow-on funding. E-commerce platforms, software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, and companies in the digital advertising space were particularly affected as market conditions continued to tighten. Many companies that had undertaken initial rounds of layoffs in 2023 and 2024 conducted further, targeted reductions to align their cost structures with revised revenue forecasts and investor expectations for profitability over sheer growth. This period saw a shift from broad, sweeping cuts to more strategic trimming of non-core projects and departments.

Methodology

This comprehensive tracker includes layoffs conducted by U.S.-based companies or those with a strong U.S. presence and is updated at least bi-weekly to provide the most current insights. We encompass both startups, which are often more vulnerable to funding fluctuations, and publicly traded, tech-heavy corporations. The scope also extends to companies based internationally that maintain a sizable team in the United States, such as Klarna, even when the exact proportion of the U.S. workforce affected by layoffs is not precisely detailed.

Layoff and workforce figures presented are consistently best estimates, meticulously compiled based on robust reporting. We source these critical layoff figures from a diverse array of reliable channels, including reputable media reports, our own in-depth investigative reporting, direct social media posts from affected companies or individuals, and the invaluable crowdsourced database layoffs.fyi. Our commitment to accuracy means we recently updated our layoffs tracker to reflect the most recent round of layoffs each company has conducted, allowing for quicker and more precise tracking of layoff trends and potentially explaining any noticeable shifts in our most recent aggregated numbers. If an employee headcount cannot be unequivocally confirmed to meet our stringent standards, it is transparently noted as "unclear."

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a layoff?
A layoff generally refers to either a permanent termination of an individual’s employment—typically motivated by cost-saving imperatives or strategic restructuring—or a temporary cessation of employment due to insufficient work to sustain a full workforce. In the context of the tech industry, layoffs overwhelmingly fall into the permanent category. A mass layoff, conversely, signifies a significant number of a company’s employees being cut within a condensed timeframe, frequently as a direct consequence of adverse economic conditions or major organizational realignments.

Why are tech companies doing layoffs?
The surge in tech layoffs, which began in earnest in 2022 and persisted through 2023 and 2024, stems from a confluence of factors. Many companies, particularly those in the e-commerce sector, experienced explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home mandates, nearly doubling their employee headcount to meet unprecedented consumer demand. As daily life gradually normalized, these companies found themselves significantly overstaffed relative to sustained demand. Larger tech employers like Salesforce and Google parent Alphabet explicitly cited that their post-pandemic layoffs followed several years of hyper-growth and rapid hiring, often leading to organizational bloat. Additionally, slowing sales growth, escalating inflation, rising interest rates, and widespread fears of an impending recession prompted many large tech companies to downsize and prioritize profitability over aggressive expansion. For venture-backed startups, the rationale was often tied to the dramatic downturn in venture funding post-2021 peak. As capital became scarcer and more expensive, startups resorted to job cuts as a critical measure to reduce burn rates, preserve dwindling cash reserves, and extend their operational runways in a challenging fundraising environment. Some, unable to secure new funding, ultimately faced bankruptcy or outright shutdowns.

What were the biggest tech layoffs of 2024?
In 2024, Intel Corp. led the U.S. tech employers in terms of layoff volume, by our count, shedding over 15,000 employees as the semiconductor giant navigated market shifts and internal restructuring. Electric-car manufacturer Tesla followed closely, cutting more than 14,000 roles, while networking powerhouse Cisco reduced its workforce by over 10,000 positions. Looking back at 2023, Amazon’s layoffs were the most extensive, impacting 16,000 roles. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, saw approximately 12,000 layoffs, with Microsoft cutting around 10,000 workers. Similarly, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also reduced its workforce by roughly 10,000 employees. Beyond these industry titans, numerous venture-backed tech startups also conducted layoffs as venture capital investment continued its sharp decline since its 2021 peak, with falling startup valuations further compelling these difficult decisions.

Are more tech layoffs coming?
Yes, it is highly probable that more layoffs are on the horizon. While there are emerging indicators that the sheer volume of layoffs might be tapering off from its peaks, experts and analysts consistently anticipate that job cuts in the tech sector will persist for the foreseeable future. This outlook is driven by the continued battle large tech companies and startups face against persistent economic headwinds, including inflation, higher interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties. Seed and early-stage startups, in particular, are expected to continue conducting layoffs as a strategic imperative to extend their cash runways in a decidedly difficult venture funding environment. The pattern of tech layoffs, which noticeably accelerated at the start of 2022, ramped up significantly in 2023, waned somewhat in 2024, and has regrettably continued into 2025 and 2026, suggests a protracted period of market correction and recalibration.

What are signs that a company is planning layoffs?
Several indicators can suggest a company might be contemplating or planning layoffs. These include, but are not limited to, a significant slowdown in hiring or a complete hiring freeze, particularly for non-essential roles; a noticeable tightening of company budgets, including cuts to perks, travel, or departmental spending; a restructuring of departments or leadership changes that hint at strategic shifts; public statements from executives about "efficiency," "optimization," or "streamlining operations"; and, in some cases, a decline in company performance, such as missed revenue targets or reduced profit margins. Increased scrutiny on individual performance metrics and a general atmosphere of uncertainty can also be telltale signs.

How many recent tech layoffs have there been?
Tech layoffs began surging with the market correction in 2022, resulting in an estimated 93,000 U.S. tech workers being laid off that year. This figure more than doubled in 2023, with approximately 200,000 U.S. tech employees losing their jobs according to our Tech Layoffs Tracker. Layoffs abated somewhat in 2024, with around 95,000 reported tech layoffs, but the trend has unfortunately continued into 2025 and early 2026. It’s crucial to acknowledge that many companies do not publicly report detailed layoff figures, and paradoxically, some companies continue to hire for critical positions deemed more beneficial to the business even while undertaking widespread cuts in other areas.

What jobs are being cut in tech layoffs?
Tech layoffs have been broad-based, impacting departments across many companies. In the initial waves, particularly among large tech giants, a significant number of the affected roles were software engineers, reflecting a scaling back from ambitious product development cycles. However, startups often demonstrated a tendency to retain engineers, instead opting to conduct layoffs in their talent acquisition and recruiting, marketing, and other operational departments. Specific examples include Google cutting roles across its sales, recruiting, product, and engineering teams. Amazon’s layoffs encompassed jobs within its AWS cloud unit, its social video platform Twitch, and its advertising department. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg notably indicated that the company’s recruiting department would be among the first to experience job cuts, underscoring a common strategy to reduce the hiring pipeline during periods of contraction.

Where can I read recent tech layoff news?
Follow all of our comprehensive tech layoffs news here and continuously track which companies are cutting jobs with the frequently updated layoffs tracker provided above.

Where can I see layoffs in the last 24 hours?
While not updated daily, this Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker is meticulously updated on a weekly basis, and often more frequently during periods of heightened activity, to provide the latest information on job cuts at U.S. tech employers, ensuring you have access to timely insights into the evolving landscape.

Which companies are hiring for open tech jobs?
Despite the widespread layoffs across the sector, many tech companies continue to actively hire for open roles, often in critical, high-growth, or specialized areas. You can find out more about Crunchbase’s Actively Hiring filter and how you can effectively identify companies with multiple open roles to assist in your job search. You can access all of our job market-related news here, providing a holistic view of both the challenges and opportunities within the tech employment landscape.

Can I cite the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker?
Yes. We encourage and appreciate citations. Please credit Crunchbase News and ensure you include a direct link to this Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker in your reference to support transparency and provide readers with access to the original source data.