In just the first half (H1), 156,975 tech roles have been cut. If the pace continues, the year could close with roughly 290,842 job losses, eclipsing the 245,000 layoffs seen in 2025.

The figures highlight the scale of adjustment underway as companies respond to both structural changes and new operational priorities.

The latest wave of cuts builds on several years of post-pandemic adjustment, during which the global tech workforce shrank by more than a million positions.

What started as a correction from pandemic-era hiring booms has now turned into a deeper transformation in how technology companies operate. Companies are increasingly restructuring departments, adopting AI-driven workflows and optimising staffing levels to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

To provide a clearer picture of the trend, the team at TradingPlatforms reviewed layoffs across the tech sector in 2026.

Drawing on data from TrueUp, TechCrunch, and multiple state WARN databases, the team identified the companies that have announced the largest workforce reductions so far this year, offering insight into which firms and regions are being most affected.

Tech layoffs in 2026 are heavily concentrated in the United States, where 152 companies have accounted for 127,676 job cuts since the start of the year, by far the largest share globally. The scale of workforce reductions across American firms continues to dwarf other regions, led by major players in enterprise software, e-commerce, social media, and fintech, among other technological sectors.

The USA layoffs, where 128,170 jobs have been cut across 152 companies since the beginning of January, represent roughly 81.8 per cent of the global total of 156,975.

Oracle is the company with the highest number of layoffs worldwide in 2026, having cut over 25,000 roles as part of a major AI-driven restructuring initiative, while Amazon follows in second place with approximately 16,600 redundancies amid ongoing efficiency measures.

Cloud, computing, and SaaS companies have laid off the most employees so far this year, 37,440 in total, followed by e-commerce firms, which eliminated 22,511 positions, and IT Services with 16,756 recorded layoffs for 2026.

Outside the U.S., Australia ranks a distant second with 4,561 layoffs. Much of the impact stems from large-scale workforce reductions at companies like WiseTech Global, Atlassian, and Telstra, highlighting how a handful of high-profile businesses can significantly shape national figures.

Across Europe, layoffs are more fragmented but still significant. The Netherlands (2,580), Sweden (2,158), and Austria (2,000) are the European nations with the most tech sector layoffs, followed by the UK (1,421) and Germany (1,296). As seen in previous months, job cuts across Europe remain closely tied to pressures in semiconductor manufacturing, telecommunications, and IT services, pointing to ongoing structural adjustments across the region’s established tech hubs.

In Asia and the Middle East, workforce reductions are spread across key innovation centres, with Israel (3,641) recording the highest number of layoffs, followed by India (2,697) and Singapore (1,289). The cuts span a wide range of sectors, including AI startups, e-commerce platforms, and cybersecurity firms. A growing share of these layoffs is linked to automation and AI adoption, particularly in Israel and Singapore, reinforcing the region’s rapid shift toward more technology-driven operating models.

The survey showed that Meta has also continued to scale back its workforce, eliminating around 10,400 roles in 2026 over several rounds of layoffs. Much of the initial impact has been concentrated within its Reality Labs division, which oversees virtual reality and metaverse-related products. The company is increasingly shifting its focus away from high-cost experimental projects and toward artificial intelligence, reallocating resources to areas with clearer commercial potential while maintaining longer-term ambitions in augmented reality.

In a memo to employees on April 23, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said the company would be reducing team sizes and cutting its workforce, while still heavily investing in AI. According to Bloomberg, which was first to report on the layoffs, the company is cutting 10 per cent of its headcount, meaning roughly 8,000 are expected to be affected, starting May 20.