Tech layoffs surge past last year already
Tech layoffs in 2026 have already surpassed last year’s total, with 125,759 employees affected across 264 companies, according to Layoffs.fyi data. The latest cuts came from Zillow, TikTok, Etsy, and Google, adding hundreds of job losses across the US technology sector during the first week of August.
The news came after a brutal run of workforce reductions throughout the year. Layoffs.fyi recorded 122,606 technology-sector employees losing their jobs across 278 companies during all of 2025.
By early August 2026, the number of affected workers had already exceeded that figure, although fewer companies had announced cuts than over the same period last year.
The latest announcements also highlight a notable feature of this year’s layoffs. While artificial intelligence remains an obvious factor in the technology industry’s spending decisions, several companies have gone out of their way to say that AI was not directly responsible for their job cuts, as they are trying to control the narrative around their decisions.
Zillow announced the largest round of August cuts so far, eliminating more than 500 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce. Chief executive Jeremy Wacksman disclosed the reductions in a 4 August blog post, describing them as necessary to create ‘a disciplined cost structure’ and improve efficiency.
The online real estate and rental platform told GeekWire that the restructuring was not driven by AI. A company spokesperson said the changes were about ‘better positioning Zillow for the path ahead,’ including having ‘the right people in the right roles’ and allowing teams to move faster.
The timing was difficult to ignore. Zillow announced the layoffs shortly before releasing its second-quarter results, which showed revenue of £575.6 million ($772 million), an 18% increase year on year.
TikTok followed with a smaller but highly concentrated round of cuts. The company is laying off 250 employees as it closes its Nashville office, where workers primarily handled content moderation.
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Etsy also confirmed around 220 job losses on 5 August, mainly affecting its Product and Engineering teams. Chief executive Kruti Patel Goyal said the redundancies were part of a company reorganisation intended to prepare the business for changes planned for 2027.
Google‘s cuts were more limited but illustrate how restructurings are reaching individual teams and regional offices. A Washington state WARN notice published on 5 August said Google planned to lay off 52 employees on 5 October.
The affected workers include software engineering managers, senior software engineers, UX designers, and senior product managers across facilities in Kirkland, Redmond, and Seattle. Three remote employees living in Washington are also included.
They are looking for savings elsewhere as firms spend heavily on AI infrastructure and other capital projects.
Executives may insist that the cuts are about structure, efficiency, or long-term planning rather than AI. But for the people receiving the emails, the distinction is unlikely to soften the impact.
Companies will likely continue to restructure and adapt to changing market conditions.
The job losses are real.
The explanations vary, and 2026‘s technology layoffs have already overtaken last year’s total with months still left on the calendar.
