The tech industry continues its tumultuous journey through a period of significant restructuring, with the latest Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker revealing ongoing workforce reductions across major players like Apple, TikTok, and Netflix, alongside the complete shutdowns of promising startups. This week, at least 410 U.S. tech sector employees faced layoffs or were scheduled for them, underscoring a persistent trend of companies striving for efficiency and adapting to evolving market dynamics, economic pressures, and shifts in venture capital availability.

Apple, TikTok, and Netflix Make a Return Appearance on the Layoffs Tracker

Leading the recent tally, Cupertino, California-based Apple has once again made headlines with significant workforce adjustments. Reports from AppleInsider indicate the tech giant is paring approximately 200 positions, primarily impacting its Apple Vision and Siri teams. These cuts are attributed to the substantial financial strain associated with producing immersive video content for the Apple Vision Pro, a high-stakes venture requiring immense investment in specialized production facilities and talent. Concurrently, changes in Apple’s artificial intelligence integration strategy are cited as a reason for reductions within the Siri team, suggesting a strategic pivot or consolidation of efforts in the highly competitive AI landscape. This move highlights the intense pressure even financially robust companies face in nascent, high-cost technology domains and rapidly evolving AI development.

TikTok also reappears on the tracker, signaling further adjustments within the popular short-form video platform. This time, the cuts affect approximately 75 workers in and around the Seattle area, as reported by GeekWire. These layoffs are predominantly concentrated within its TikTok Shop and global e-commerce divisions. Based in Singapore and Los Angeles, TikTok has been aggressively expanding its e-commerce capabilities, aiming to challenge established online retail giants. However, these layoffs suggest a recalibration of its e-commerce strategy, potentially in response to market adoption rates, profitability targets, or intense competition in the online shopping space, particularly as it seeks to monetize its massive user base more effectively.

Online streaming behemoth Netflix returns to the tracker with news of strategic restructuring within its nascent gaming division. Polygon reports that Netflix is shutting down another of its gaming studios, the Los Angeles-based Night School Studio, known for narrative-driven games. Furthermore, the company plans to close Moonloot, a studio based in Helsinki. These closures reflect a strategic shift by Netflix to streamline its gaming efforts, focusing more acutely on developing games for specific audiences such as kids, party games, and other mainstream segments that align more directly with its core entertainment offerings and broader subscriber base. While the exact number of Los Angeles workers affected by Night School Studio’s closure remains unclear, these decisions underscore Netflix’s ongoing experimentation and optimization within the highly competitive and capital-intensive video game industry.

Tech Shutdowns Signal Broader Market Challenges

Beyond layoffs, the tracker also highlights a pair of tech company shutdowns this week, indicative of the challenging environment for startups, particularly those navigating the current venture funding landscape.

San Francisco-based workflow automation tool Relay, an AI automation startup, announced its impending cessation of services, with access to its app slated to end on September 14. TechCrunch reported on this shutdown, which, while unfortunate for the company, comes with a silver lining for some of its employees. Notably, founder and CEO Jacob Bank, along with other affected workers, will be joining the Chrome team at Google. This outcome, though a company closure, offers a soft landing for key talent, illustrating the ongoing demand for skilled professionals even amidst broader industry cuts.

Similarly, Brooklyn, New York-based energy technology provider BlocPower is also ceasing operations. Latitude Media reported that the climate tech startup informed its shareholders of its decision to shut down and liquidate its assets. BlocPower was a mission-driven company focused on decarbonizing buildings in underserved communities, an area critical for climate action. Its closure underscores the significant financial hurdles and capital requirements faced by climate tech startups, especially in a tightening venture capital market where long-term returns and complex project financing can be difficult to secure.

The Broader Picture: Why the Cuts Continue

The persistent wave of tech layoffs, which began to surge in 2022 and has continued through 2026, is driven by a confluence of factors. Many companies, particularly those in the e-commerce sector, significantly expanded their workforces during the COVID-19 pandemic to meet unprecedented consumer demand fueled by stay-at-home mandates. As daily life normalized and economic conditions shifted, these companies found themselves overstaffed relative to current demand, necessitating painful adjustments.

Large tech employers like Salesforce, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft also engaged in rapid hiring sprees between 2019 and 2022, nearly doubling their employee headcounts in some cases. Their subsequent layoffs were often framed as "corrections" to this hyper-growth, coupled with slowing sales, rising interest rates, and fears of a broader economic recession. The focus has decisively shifted from aggressive growth at any cost to efficiency and profitability.

For venture-backed startups, the landscape has become particularly challenging. The venture funding environment has significantly tightened since its peak in 2021, leading to a substantial drop in capital availability. Many startups have cut jobs to extend their cash runways, conserve capital, and navigate a more cautious investment climate. Those unable to secure new funding rounds often face difficult choices, including bankruptcy or complete shutdown, as seen with Relay and BlocPower. Experts widely anticipate that job cuts in the tech sector will continue for the foreseeable future, especially affecting seed and early-stage startups striving to survive in a difficult funding environment.

By the Numbers: A Historical Look at Tech Layoffs (2022-2026)

The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker provides a sobering quantification of the industry’s restructuring efforts:

• Layoffs during the weeks ended Aug. 26, 2026: At least 410 U.S. tech sector employees were laid off or scheduled for layoffs, based on Crunchbase News’ tally.
• In 2025: Approximately 127,000 workers were let go from U.S.-based tech companies.
• In 2024: At least 95,667 workers at U.S.-based tech companies lost their jobs.
• 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, marking the peak of the recent wave.
• In 2022: More than 93,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies in the U.S., signaling the beginning of the downturn.

These figures illustrate a massive cumulative impact, with hundreds of thousands of jobs affected across the sector in just a few years.

Companies with the Biggest Workforce Reductions in Recent Years

The largest tech companies have not been immune to these trends, often leading the numbers due to their sheer scale:

• In 2024: Intel Corp. led with more than 15,000 employees laid off, reflecting challenges in the semiconductor market and internal restructuring. Electric-car maker Tesla followed closely, cutting over 14,000 roles as it pursued efficiency and cost reductions. Networking giant Cisco also undertook significant reductions, with more than 10,000 total roles cut.
• In 2023: Amazon layoffs were the highest, with 16,000 roles cut across various divisions, including its AWS cloud unit, Twitch, and advertising. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, laid off about 12,000 workers, while Microsoft’s layoffs totaled approximately 10,000. Facebook parent Meta also shed around 10,000 jobs as CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared a "year of efficiency."

These substantial cuts by industry titans highlight a universal drive to optimize operations and refocus strategic priorities in a more constrained economic environment.

What Jobs Are Being Cut in Tech Layoffs?

Tech layoffs have impacted virtually every department within companies, though certain roles have seen disproportionate cuts. In the initial phases of the downturn, particularly among large tech giants, software engineers were significantly affected, signaling a shift from aggressive product development to more measured, core engineering efforts. Startups, often with leaner engineering teams, sometimes opted to retain engineers while cutting roles in talent acquisition, recruiting, marketing, and other support departments. Google, for instance, cut roles across sales, recruiting, product, and engineering. Amazon’s layoffs spanned its AWS cloud unit, Twitch, and advertising. Meta’s CEO specifically highlighted the recruiting department as an early target for job cuts. This broad impact indicates a holistic re-evaluation of staffing needs across the entire organizational structure.

Methodology

The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker is a dynamic resource, updated at least bi-weekly, designed to provide a comprehensive overview of job cuts in the U.S. tech sector. It includes layoffs conducted by U.S.-based companies or those with a strong U.S. presence, encompassing both venture-backed startups and publicly traded, tech-heavy corporations. Companies based internationally but with a sizable U.S. team, such as Klarna, are also included, even if the precise U.S. workforce impact is sometimes unclear.

Layoff and workforce figures presented are always best estimates, meticulously sourced from a variety of reliable channels including media reports, Crunchbase’s own investigative reporting, social media posts, and layoffs.fyi, a widely referenced crowdsourced database of tech layoffs. The tracker is continuously refined to reflect the most recent rounds of layoffs, allowing for quick and accurate tracking of emerging trends. If an employee headcount cannot be confirmed to stringent standards, it is noted as "unclear" to maintain transparency and accuracy.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a layoff? A layoff typically refers to the temporary or permanent termination of employment, usually for reasons unrelated to employee performance, such as cost-saving measures or insufficient work. In the tech sector, layoffs are generally permanent, often occurring as "mass layoffs" when a significant portion of a company’s workforce is cut due to economic conditions or strategic restructuring.

• Why are tech companies doing layoffs? Tech layoffs have surged since 2022 due to multiple factors. Many companies over-hired during the COVID-19 pandemic’s demand boom, leading to overstaffing when normal economic conditions resumed. Large tech firms like Google and Salesforce cited rapid growth and hiring in previous years, coupled with slowing sales and recession fears, as reasons for downsizing. Venture-backed startups, facing a significant decline in venture funding since the 2021 peak, have cut jobs to preserve cash reserves and extend their runways, with some ultimately shutting down or filing for bankruptcy when new funding proved elusive.

• What were the biggest tech layoffs of 2024 and 2023? In 2024, Intel Corp. led U.S. tech employers with over 15,000 layoffs, followed by Tesla (over 14,000 roles) and Cisco (over 10,000 roles). In 2023, Amazon’s layoffs were the highest at 16,000 roles. Alphabet (Google) cut about 12,000 jobs, while Microsoft and Meta (Facebook parent) each laid off approximately 10,000 workers. These figures highlight the widespread impact across both established giants and growth-focused companies.

• Are more tech layoffs coming? Yes, more layoffs are highly probable. While the volume might be tapering compared to the peaks of 2023, experts anticipate job cuts in the tech sector will continue due to ongoing economic headwinds. Seed and early-stage startups, in particular, may continue layoffs to extend their cash runways in a difficult venture funding environment. The trend of significant layoffs, which started in 2022, ramped up in 2023, waned somewhat in 2024, and has continued into 2025 and 2026, is expected to persist.

• What are signs that a company is planning layoffs? Several indicators may suggest a company is likely to conduct layoffs. These include hiring freezes or slowdowns, significant budget cuts across departments, a noticeable shift in strategic priorities towards "efficiency" or "profitability" over growth, internal restructuring, changes in leadership, and consistent poor financial performance. A general sense of uncertainty or a lack of clear communication from leadership can also be a precursor.

• How many recent tech layoffs have there been? Tech layoffs surged in the 2022 market correction, with an estimated 93,000 U.S. tech workers laid off that year. This figure more than doubled in 2023, with around 200,000 U.S. tech employees laid off. Layoffs abated somewhat in 2024, with around 95,000 reported tech layoffs, and have continued into 2025 and 2026. It’s important to note that many companies do not report detailed layoff figures, and some continue hiring for critical roles even after cuts.

• Where can I read recent tech layoff news? Follow all Crunchbase News coverage on tech layoffs here and utilize this Tech Layoffs Tracker for the latest updates on companies cutting jobs.

• Where can I see layoffs in the last 24 hours? While not updated daily, the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker is updated weekly, and often more frequently, to provide the most current information on job cuts at U.S. tech employers.

• Which companies are hiring for open tech jobs? Despite widespread layoffs, many tech companies continue to hire for specific open roles. Crunchbase offers an "Actively Hiring" filter that helps identify companies with multiple open positions. More information on this feature and job market-related news can be found here.

• Can I cite the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker? Yes, you are encouraged to cite Crunchbase News and include a link to this Tech Layoffs Tracker when referencing its data or insights.