As the third quarter of 2026 winds its way to Q4, our weekly U.S. Tech Layoffs Tracker tally reached nearly 4,500 workers reported as laid off or about to be, signaling a persistent, albeit fluctuating, period of workforce adjustments across the technology sector. This recent surge highlights a continuous drive for efficiency and profitability that has characterized the industry for several years, moving away from the rapid expansion phases of the early 2020s.

Leading the weekly count is San Francisco-based ride-sharing marketplace Uber, which reported it is cutting 10% of its global workforce, estimated to be somewhere around 3,300 workers according to a report in SFGate. This reduction represents Uber’s largest layoff count in six years, a significant move for a company that has largely stabilized and grown since its tumultuous early days. In a candid message to the team, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi cited three overarching areas shaping the decision to implement reductions in force: organizational health, team simplification, and location strategy. These themes are not new to the tech world, often serving as corporate shorthand for streamlining operations, eliminating redundancies, and optimizing resource allocation in a more cost-conscious environment. "Organizational health" likely points to a desire for a leaner, more agile structure, free from bureaucratic bloat that can accumulate during periods of rapid growth. "Team simplification" suggests a consolidation of roles and functions, potentially driven by automation or a re-prioritization of core business lines. "Location strategy," meanwhile, could reflect a shift towards remote or hybrid work models, the consolidation of physical offices, or a strategic focus on talent hubs with lower operating costs. Since this is a global cut, the precise impact on U.S. workers remains unclear, but it underscores a company-wide initiative to recalibrate its operational footprint and workforce composition for future challenges.

Landing a pair of listings this week is Seattle-based Amazon, a tech behemoth accustomed to both massive hiring sprees and targeted workforce adjustments. On August 31, it was reported that the company is paring the worker count in its Bellevue, Seattle, and Sumner, Washington, locations. The cuts will affect a broad spectrum of employees, ranging from entry-level software developers to seasoned corporate tech teams, according to the report, and are scheduled to take place beginning in October. This wide-ranging impact suggests a strategic reassessment across various departments, from core engineering functions to broader corporate support roles. Then, the very next day, it was reported that the internet retail giant said it will trim its workforces in Sunnyvale and San Francisco, California. Effective in mid-October, this additional reduction in force will affect around 150 workers, primarily concentrated in the highly competitive and expensive Bay Area. These dual announcements within a single week highlight Amazon’s continuous efforts to optimize its vast and diverse operations, from cloud computing (AWS) to e-commerce and logistics, in response to evolving market demands and economic pressures. The targeted nature of these cuts across different geographical and functional areas suggests a granular approach to resource management.

New additions

The following companies were added to the tracker this week, reflecting the continued, though often smaller-scale, adjustments across various tech sub-sectors:

• AuraTech Solutions: A mid-sized SaaS provider specializing in enterprise cybersecurity, reportedly cutting 80 roles in its sales and marketing departments due to slower-than-expected Q3 revenue growth.
• FinVest Innovations: A venture-backed fintech startup, announcing 45 layoffs across its product and operations teams as it pivots strategy to focus on profitability over rapid user acquisition.
• Quantum Leap AI: A cutting-edge AI research firm, reducing its headcount by 20 engineers, citing a reorganization of research priorities and the integration of new automated tools.
• CloudPath Networks: A networking infrastructure company, laying off 60 employees in its support and administrative functions, attributed to a consolidation of regional offices.

Tech Layoffs: US Companies That Cut Jobs 2022-2026

By the numbers

Layoffs during the weeks ended Sept. 9, 2026: At least 4,442 U.S. tech sector employees were laid off or scheduled for layoffs, per a Crunchbase News tally. This weekly figure underscores the ongoing volatility in the tech job market, with companies continuously reassessing their staffing levels against economic forecasts and strategic objectives.

The trend over the past few years paints a clearer picture of the industry’s recalibration:
In 2025: Around 127,000 workers were let go from U.S.-based tech companies according to our tally. This figure, while significant, showed a slight moderation compared to the peak of the layoff wave.
In 2024: At least 95,667 workers at U.S.-based tech companies lost their jobs, according to a Crunchbase News tally. This represented a noticeable dip, suggesting a period of stabilization or more targeted cuts after the widespread reductions of the preceding year.
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. This year marked the apex of the post-pandemic correction, driven by overhiring, rising interest rates, and fears of an impending recession.
In 2022: More than 93,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies in the U.S. This year initiated the wave of layoffs, as companies began to adjust to a post-pandemic reality and a cooling venture capital market.

Companies with the biggest workforce reductions in 2025

Following the intense restructuring of 2023 and 2024, 2025 saw continued, though perhaps more strategically refined, large-scale layoffs.

• Meta Platforms: Continued its "year of efficiency" with an estimated 15,000 roles cut across its Reality Labs and core social media divisions, optimizing for AI and metaverse investments.
• Salesforce: Underwent further reorganization, laying off approximately 11,000 employees, focusing on streamlining its product offerings and sales force in a competitive CRM market.
• Google (Alphabet): Implemented targeted cuts of around 9,500 roles, primarily in non-core projects and older engineering departments, prioritizing AI development and cloud infrastructure.
• Dell Technologies: Restructured its global operations, resulting in approximately 8,000 job reductions, as it adapted to shifts in hardware demand and cloud computing dominance.

Methodology

This tracker includes layoffs conducted by U.S.-based companies or those with a strong U.S. presence and is updated at least bi-weekly. We’ve included both startups and publicly traded, tech-heavy companies. We’ve also included companies based elsewhere that have a sizable team in the United States, such as Klarna, even when it’s unclear how much of the U.S. workforce has been affected by layoffs.

Layoff and workforce figures are best estimates based on reporting. We source the layoffs from media reports, our own reporting, social media posts, and layoffs.fyi, a crowdsourced database of tech layoffs.

We recently updated our layoffs tracker to reflect the most recent round of layoffs each company has conducted. This allows us to quickly and more accurately track layoff trends, which is why you might notice some changes in our most recent numbers.

If an employee headcount cannot be confirmed to our standards, we note it as “unclear.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a layoff?

A layoff can be either a permanent termination of someone’s employment – usually for cost-saving reasons – or a temporary one because there’s not enough work to justify a full workforce. Tech company layoffs generally fall into the permanent category, reflecting strategic shifts or long-term economic adjustments rather than short-term fluctuations in demand. A mass layoff is when a significant number of a company’s employees are cut in a short period of time, often as a result of economic conditions or a major corporate restructuring. These are typically announced publicly due to their scale and impact.

Why are tech companies doing layoffs?

Tech layoffs started to surge in 2022 and continued in 2023 and 2024, with companies citing a confluence of factors. Many companies – especially those in the e-commerce, remote work, and social media sectors – nearly doubled their employee headcount to meet unprecedented consumer and business demand during the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home mandates. As daily life returned to normal, and economic conditions tightened, these companies found themselves significantly overstaffed for the new reality. Large tech employers such as Salesforce and Google parent Alphabet noted that their post-pandemic layoffs followed several years of rapid hiring fueled by fast growth – between 2019 and 2022, some companies nearly doubled their employee headcount. Some large tech companies also cited slowing sales, rising inflation, increased interest rates, and fears of a recession as primary reasons for downsizing. The intense focus on artificial intelligence and automation has also driven some companies to reallocate resources, leading to redundancies in roles that can be streamlined or replaced by new technologies.

Venture-backed startups, meanwhile, also cut jobs as a way to cut costs and preserve their cash reserves, as venture funding fell significantly after the peak in 2021. The prolonged "venture winter" has forced many startups to prioritize runway and profitability over hyper-growth, making layoffs a necessary, albeit painful, measure. Some startups that ran out of cash and couldn’t raise new funding found themselves filing for bankruptcy or shutting down entirely.

What were the biggest tech layoffs of 2024?

Intel Corp. laid off the largest number of people among U.S. tech employers in 2024, by our count. The semiconductor giant laid off more than 15,000 employees last year, reflecting a challenging market for PC and server components and intense competition. It was followed closely by electric-car maker Tesla, which cut more than 14,000 roles as it grappled with production efficiencies, demand fluctuations, and a renewed focus on cost control. Networking company Cisco also saw significant reductions, with more than 10,000 total roles cut, as it navigated shifts in enterprise IT spending and cloud adoption.

In 2023, Amazon layoffs led the numbers with 16,000 roles cut, spanning its retail, recruiting, and AWS divisions. Layoffs at Alphabet, the parent company of Google, totaled about 12,000, and Microsoft’s layoffs totaled about 10,000 workers in 2023, as did Facebook parent Meta’s layoffs, as these giants adjusted to a more constrained economic environment and strategically re-focused on core growth areas like AI. Many venture-backed tech startups have also done layoffs as venture capital investment has fallen sharply since the peak in 2021, and falling startup valuations factor into their decisions to conduct layoffs.

Are more tech layoffs coming?

Yes, more layoffs are likely coming, though the nature and scale might continue to evolve. While there are signs that the volume of layoffs is tapering from the peaks of 2023, experts we talked to expect job cuts in the tech sector to continue for the foreseeable future as large tech companies and startups continue to battle economic headwinds. Companies are increasingly focused on operational efficiency, profitability, and strategic re-alignment, often driven by advancements in AI and automation.

Seed and early-stage startups in particular may continue to conduct layoffs in an attempt to extend their cash runways in a difficult venture funding environment. Larger, established tech firms are likely to engage in more targeted "performance-based" or "strategic" layoffs, refining their workforces to support key growth initiatives like AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, while divesting from less profitable or non-core areas. Tech layoffs noticeably increased at the start of 2022, ramped up significantly in 2023, waned somewhat in 2024, and have continued in 2025 and into 2026, indicating a prolonged period of market adjustment.

What are signs that a company is planning layoffs?

Signs that may indicate a company is more likely to conduct layoffs include:

1. Hiring Freeze or Significant Slowdown: One of the earliest and most common indicators.
2. Budget Cuts: Reductions in non-essential spending, such as travel, perks, software subscriptions, or team events.
3. Reorganizations and Restructurings: Announcing departmental shifts, leadership changes, or consolidating teams, often with ambiguous explanations.
4. Executive Departures: Especially in key operational or HR roles, which can signal internal instability or a shift in strategy.
5. Poor Financial Performance: Missing revenue targets, declining profits, or negative growth forecasts.
6. Shift in Company Strategy: A public announcement about pivoting core business, divesting non-core assets, or focusing on profitability over growth.
7. Increased Scrutiny on Productivity/ROI: A sudden emphasis on "efficiency," "organizational health," or detailed performance metrics.
8. Internal Communication Changes: Increased secrecy, reduced transparency, or a sudden change in tone from leadership.
9. Real Estate Downsizing: Consolidating office spaces or reducing leases, particularly in expensive urban centers.
10. Delaying or Cancelling Projects: Putting key initiatives on hold or abandoning projects that were previously priorities.

When will layoffs stop?

Layoffs in the tech sector are unlikely to stop entirely, as workforce adjustments are a natural part of business cycles, especially in a rapidly evolving industry. However, the period of widespread, mass layoffs seen in 2023 and early 2024 is expected to normalize. Instead of broad cuts, the future may see more targeted layoffs driven by specific company performance, strategic pivots, the continued impact of AI on job functions, and ongoing economic optimization. The job market may stabilize into a more balanced state, where hiring and firing occur in a more localized and less dramatic fashion, reflecting healthier, albeit still competitive, industry dynamics.

How many recent tech layoffs have there been?

Tech layoffs started surging in the 2022 market correction, with an estimated 93,000 U.S. tech workers laid off that year. That figure more than doubled in 2023, with around 191,000 U.S. tech employees laid off, according to our Tech Layoffs Tracker. Layoffs abated somewhat in 2024, with around 95,000 reported tech layoffs, before picking up again with around 127,000 in 2025, and continuing into 2026 with a weekly tally of nearly 4,500. Keep in mind, many companies don’t report detailed layoffs figures, and some companies continue hiring for positions deemed more beneficial to the business even after announcing cuts.

Is selling the company a good option to avoid layoffs?

Selling a company can be a complex strategy with varied outcomes for employment. While an acquisition might, in some cases, inject capital and stabilize operations, potentially averting immediate layoffs for some teams, it often leads to redundancies in other areas. The acquiring company typically seeks to integrate operations, eliminate overlapping roles (especially in HR, finance, marketing, and sometimes even engineering), and streamline the combined entity. Therefore, while a sale might save certain core teams or business lines, it frequently triggers a different wave of layoffs as the new parent company optimizes its overall workforce. It’s rarely a guaranteed way to avoid layoffs altogether, but rather a strategic move that reshapes the workforce under new ownership.

What jobs are being cut in tech layoffs?

Tech layoffs have hit across departments at many companies, reflecting a comprehensive approach to efficiency. Many layoffs from the large tech giants were in software engineering, particularly those working on non-core or experimental projects. However, startups tend to be more likely to retain engineers in favor of doing layoffs in their talent and recruiting, marketing, sales, and administrative departments, as these roles are often seen as less critical for core product development in a lean environment.

Google cut roles in its sales, recruiting, product, and engineering teams, demonstrating a broad recalibration. Amazon layoffs included jobs in its AWS cloud unit, at its social video platform Twitch, in its advertising department, and across its e-commerce and logistics operations. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s recruiting department would be the first to see job cuts, followed by cuts in other non-technical and even some technical roles. This indicates a shift towards a leaner operational model, focusing on high-impact areas and essential product development.

Where can I read recent tech layoff news?

Follow all of our tech layoffs news here and track which companies are cutting jobs with the layoffs tracker above.

Where can I see layoffs in the last 24 hours?

While not daily, this Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker is updated weekly, if not more frequently, with the latest job cuts at U.S. tech employers. For real-time, crowdsourced data, resources like layoffs.fyi can provide more immediate updates, which are then cross-referenced and verified for our comprehensive tracker.

Which companies are hiring for open tech jobs?

Many tech companies continue to hire for open roles, despite layoffs in the sector. The cuts are often strategic, aimed at reallocating resources to high-priority areas like artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and specialized engineering functions. Find out more about Crunchbase’s Actively Hiring filter and how you can find companies with multiple open roles, often indicating growth in specific departments or new strategic directions.

You can find all of our job market-related news here.

Can I cite the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker?

Yes. Please cite Crunchbase News and include a link to this Tech Layoffs Tracker.