The U.S. labor market has continued to see significant workforce reductions in 2026, particularly in technology. While artificial intelligence has become an important part of the restructuring narrative, companies have also cited cost controls, organizational changes, changing business priorities and the need to operate with smaller teams.
The American Bazaar’s coverage has tracked several of these layoffs, particularly where they affect technology workers and Indian professionals in the United States.
Here are some of the most significant layoffs announced or carried out between January and August 2026.
1. Amazon: 16,000 jobs, January
Amazon announced about 16,000 corporate layoffs in January, bringing the company’s total corporate job cuts since October 2025 to approximately 30,000.
The company described the restructuring as an effort to reduce organizational layers, increase ownership and eliminate bureaucracy. The cuts affected multiple divisions, including AWS, Alexa, Prime Video, devices, advertising and other corporate functions. The reduction represented roughly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce and became one of the largest corporate workforce reductions in the company’s history.
2. Amazon: another 2,200 jobs, February
Amazon’s restructuring continued into February.
A Washington state WARN filing showed that Amazon planned to eliminate 2,200 positions in Washington, with the job separations scheduled to begin in April. The cuts included 401 positions associated with facility closures. Amazon’s January and February reductions highlighted how the company’s workforce restructuring extended beyond a single round of corporate layoffs.
3. Block: 4,000 jobs, February
Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block announced plans to eliminate about 4,000 jobs, nearly half of its workforce.
Dorsey explicitly linked the restructuring to advances in AI and productivity tools, arguing that smaller teams using AI could accomplish more work. The announcement came shortly after Block reported quarterly revenue above Wall Street expectations, making the scale of the workforce reduction particularly notable.
4. Salesforce: fewer than 1,000 jobs, February
Salesforce eliminated fewer than 1,000 positions in February across areas including marketing, product management, data analytics and its Agentforce AI unit.
The company said AI-driven efficiencies had reduced the number of support cases and meant that some support engineering positions no longer needed to be backfilled. Salesforce’s cuts were part of a broader restructuring around AI and automation.
5. Amazon Robotics: at least 100 jobs, March
Amazon’s restructuring reached its robotics organization in March, with at least 100 white-collar positions eliminated.
The affected unit works on autonomous systems and fulfillment-center technology. Amazon described robotics as a strategic priority even as it reduced staffing within the division. The cuts illustrated one of the defining contradictions of 2026: companies are investing heavily in automation while also reducing the number of people working on related operations.
6. Oracle: tens of thousands of jobs, March-April
Oracle became one of the year’s most significant layoff stories.
Reports in March said Oracle was preparing to eliminate thousands of jobs as it dealt with the enormous cost of expanding its AI infrastructure. By April, estimates put the global cuts at up to 30,000 positions, including roughly 12,000 in India, although the exact number was initially based on estimates rather than a single companywide announcement. Oracle subsequently disclosed in its annual report that its workforce had fallen from approximately 162,000 to 141,000, a decline of about 21,000 employees over the fiscal year. Because the figures were reported at different stages, the 21,000 figure is the more firmly documented companywide number.
7. Meta: about 8,000 jobs, announced April, implemented May
Meta announced plans to cut approximately 8,000 jobs, or about 10% of its workforce.
The company said the layoffs were part of a restructuring designed to make the organization more efficient while redirecting resources toward artificial intelligence. The layoffs began on May 20, with notifications sent to employees in multiple waves. Meta also planned to move thousands of employees into AI-related initiatives and reduce management layers.
8. Snap: about 1,000 jobs, April
Snap announced approximately 1,000 layoffs, equivalent to about 16% of its full-time workforce.
The Snapchat parent also closed more than 300 open positions as part of a restructuring focused on improving efficiency and reducing costs. Snap said AI was allowing the company to operate with smaller teams, with more than 65% of new code being generated using AI tools.
9. Walmart: 1,000 corporate jobs, May
Walmart eliminated about 1,000 corporate positions in May as it simplified its organizational structure.
The retail giant’s restructuring was notable because Walmart did not identify AI as the primary reason for the cuts. Instead, the company pointed to organizational changes and efforts to simplify its operations.
10. LinkedIn: workforce reductions, May
LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, also reduced its workforce in May as Microsoft intensified its focus on cost controls and AI-related investments.
The American Bazaar reported the cuts as part of a broader restructuring across Microsoft’s operations. LinkedIn’s reductions illustrate that the AI-driven restructuring trend has extended beyond Microsoft’s core software and cloud businesses.
11. Cisco: fewer than 4,000 jobs, May
Cisco announced that it would reduce its workforce by fewer than 4,000 employees, representing less than 5% of its workforce.
The networking company said the changes were designed to align its workforce and cost structure with strategic growth opportunities, including AI, silicon, optics and security.The company announced while reporting strong quarterly financial results, underscoring how layoffs in 2026 have not necessarily been limited to companies facing financial distress.
12. Groupon: up to 400 jobs, May
Groupon announced plans to eliminate up to 400 positions, nearly a quarter of its workforce.
The company described the restructuring as part of its effort to become more AI-focused, with automation expected to take on functions including lead generation, customer support and internal operations.
13. ClickUp: 22% of workforce, May
Productivity software company ClickUp cut about 22% of its workforce in May.
The company framed the reduction as a strategic reorganization around AI rather than a conventional cost-cutting exercise. Reports put the affected workforce at roughly 290 employees. The announcement became one of the more prominent examples of a technology company explicitly arguing that AI enables a smaller workforce to produce more output.
14. Acrisure: 2,250 jobs, May onward
Insurance technology company Acrisure announced plans to eliminate approximately 2,250 jobs through 2027, or close to 11% of its workforce.
The restructuring was linked to increased use of AI and automation across the company. Unlike a single-day mass layoff, Acrisure’s reduction is being implemented over a longer period.
15. Oracle: 21,000 jobs confirmed, June
Oracle’s June disclosure provided a clearer picture of the scale of its restructuring.
The company reported that its workforce had fallen by approximately 21,000 employees over the fiscal year, or about 13%. Oracle attributed the restructuring to several factors, including management and product changes, strategic shifts, acquisitions, employee performance issues and, in part, AI adoption. The cuts came as Oracle was simultaneously committing tens of billions of dollars to expanding AI-focused cloud infrastructure.
16. Microsoft: about 4,800 jobs, July
Microsoft eliminated roughly 4,800 positions, or about 2.1% of its global workforce, in July.
The cuts affected several areas, with Xbox particularly affected. Microsoft eliminated about 1,600 Xbox positions in the round. The layoffs followed earlier reductions and came as Microsoft continued to commit substantial resources to AI infrastructure and services. The American Bazaar reported the July cuts as affecting approximately 4,000 employees, while later reporting put the figure closer to 4,800.
17. Xbox: 3,200 additional jobs planned, July
Microsoft’s gaming division faced another major restructuring in July.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees that approximately 3,200 positions could be eliminated during fiscal 2027, including about 1,600 immediate cuts. The announcement followed Microsoft’s broader workforce reductions and restructuring of several Xbox studios.
18. Sprout Social: 260 jobs, July
Sprout Social announced plans to eliminate approximately 260 positions as it restructured around changes in the software industry and expanded its AI capabilities.
The company expected the restructuring to generate between $18 million and $20 million in pretax charges, largely related to severance and employee benefits.
19. Intel: additional cuts, July
Intel announced another restructuring affecting its Data Center Group in July.
The chipmaker did not disclose a specific number of jobs affected by the latest round, but the company said it was seeking a more focused and efficient organization. Intel’s latest cuts came after the company had already reduced its global workforce by roughly 40,000 employees over the previous two years, making the latest restructuring part of a much larger turnaround effort.
20. Etsy: 220 jobs, August
Etsy became one of the latest major companies to announce layoffs in 2026.
The online marketplace said on Aug. 5 that it would eliminate approximately 220 positions, representing about 12% of its workforce. Most of the affected positions are in product and engineering. CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the restructuring was not driven by AI or cost-cutting, but by an effort to simplify the organization, improve coordination and accelerate decision-making. The announcement came even as Etsy reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, making it another example of layoffs being used as part of organizational restructuring rather than solely as a response to weak financial performance.
What the 2026 layoffs show
The 2026 layoff cycle has a more complicated story than simply “AI is taking jobs.”
Artificial intelligence has been explicitly cited in several major workforce reductions. Block, Snap, Groupon and ClickUp are among the clearest examples. Amazon, Meta, Oracle and Microsoft have also been restructuring while simultaneously increasing their AI investments.
But companies have also stressed other reasons.
Etsy, for example, explicitly said its August layoffs were not driven by AI or cost-cutting. Oracle cited a combination of organizational, product, strategic and acquisition-related changes, alongside AI adoption. The broader trend also extends well beyond Silicon Valley. Retail, finance, insurance and other industries have announced significant workforce reductions during the year. Current tracking data from TrueUp lists 520 technology layoff events affecting about 174,721 workers in 2026 as of the latest update.
At the same time, Challenger, Gray & Christmas data cited by The Wall Street Journal showed that U.S. employers had announced about 33,500 job cuts in July, while total 2026 layoffs through that point were lower than during the same period in 2025. The technology sector nevertheless accounted for more than 30% of announced cuts.
For Indian American and other immigrant technology workers, the consequences can extend beyond unemployment. The American Bazaar has reported cases in which layoffs at companies such as Meta have put H-1B workers at risk of losing their status if they cannot find another sponsoring employer within the applicable grace period.
The pattern suggests that the 2026 workforce story is not simply about companies becoming unprofitable. Increasingly, employers are redesigning organizations around smaller teams, automation, AI tools and different capital priorities.
For workers, however, the distinction between an AI-driven restructuring and a conventional layoff may matter less when the result is the same: a job disappears.