The Body Count So Far:
- Intel: 21,000 workers (20% of workforce)
- Meta: ~2,500 workers ("low performers")
- Microsoft: 9,000+ workers across divisions
- Google: Hundreds in platforms/devices
We're looking at 22,000+ tech workers laid off in eight months, with February being particularly brutal at 16,084 cuts. This isn't like 2008 or 2001 where companies cut costs and hired everyone back. This is different - AI is actually replacing humans now, and those jobs are gone forever.
The Big Names Leading the Slaughter
Intel is gutting 21,000 employees (20% of their workforce) as their foundry business bleeds money and AI chips replace traditional processors. When a company that basically invented the modern computer industry has to cut a fifth of their staff, that's not a temporary adjustment - that's existential crisis.
Meta decided to cut 5% of their workforce targeting "low performers" as they prepare for "an intense year." Translation: AI is handling more content moderation, ad optimization, and user engagement tasks, so they need fewer humans.
Microsoft chopped 9,000 employees across multiple rounds, despite being one of the biggest AI beneficiaries through their OpenAI partnership. Even companies winning the AI race are eliminating human jobs at unprecedented rates.
Google eliminated "hundreds of employees" from their platforms and devices division while cutting their smart TV budget by 10% and doubling down on AI investments. The message is clear: human-driven product development is getting replaced by AI-driven automation.
The AI Replacement Pattern
This isn't random cost-cutting - there's a clear pattern of which jobs are disappearing:
Customer Service: Atlassian cut 150 customer support roles after their AI-powered platform "significantly reduced support needs." When customers can resolve issues through AI chatbots, human support becomes redundant.
Content Creation: Canva laid off 10-12 technical writers nine months after telling employees to use generative AI tools wherever possible. AI can now write documentation, marketing copy, and user guides faster and cheaper than humans.
Engineering and QA: Multiple companies are cutting software engineers and testers as AI coding tools handle routine development tasks. Scale AI laid off 200 employees in their data labeling business - the humans who trained AI models are now being replaced by the models they created.
Sales and Marketing: Traditional sales and marketing roles are getting automated through AI-driven lead generation, customer segmentation, and personalized campaigns. Companies need fewer humans to manage the same customer volume.
The February Massacre: 16,000 Jobs in One Month
February 2025 will go down as one of the bloodiest months in tech history. 16,084 job cuts across hundreds of companies, with some particularly brutal examples:
- Workday: 1,750 employees (8.5% of workforce)
- HP: Up to 2,000 jobs as part of "Future Now" restructuring
- Blue Origin: Over 1,000 employees (10% of workforce)
- Block: 931 employees (8% of workforce)
The speed and scale suggest coordinated industry-wide transformation rather than individual company problems. When dozens of major tech companies all decide to cut thousands of jobs in the same month, that's not coincidence - that's disruption.
AI Companies Aren't Immune
Even AI-first companies are laying off workers as their own tools become more capable:
Scale AI - the fucking poster child of AI success - just cut 200 employees and 500 contractors who were labeling data. Think about that: the people who trained AI models are now getting fired by those same models. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing.
Unity - a game engine company pivoting to AI - conducted multiple layoff rounds as their AI tools automate game development tasks previously done by human developers.
This pattern will accelerate as AI tools become more sophisticated and can handle increasingly complex tasks.
The Venture Capital Reality Check
Startups are getting massacred as VC funding dries up and AI tools reduce the need for large development teams:
- Zeen: Social media startup shut down completely despite raising $9 million
- Cushion: Fintech startup closed operations after eight years and $20+ million in funding
- Level: Abruptly shut down after failing to find a buyer
- Pandion: Delivery startup closed operations, affecting 63 employees
Small startups that would have needed 50-100 employees in 2020 can now operate with 10-15 people using AI tools for development, design, customer service, and marketing. The math for VC investment has fundamentally changed.
Global Impact: This Isn't Just America
The layoffs span continents, showing this is global transformation:
- Northvolt (Sweden): 2,800 employees cut (62% of staff) as the battery maker filed for bankruptcy
- TikTok (Ireland): Up to 300 workers cut (10% of Irish workforce)
- ByteDance (U.S.): 65 employees laid off in Bellevue, Washington
Even companies expanding globally are reducing their human workforce as AI handles localization, customer support, and regional operations more efficiently than local teams.
What's Different This Time
This isn't like previous tech downturns where companies hired aggressively once conditions improved. Three key differences:
AI is permanent: Unlike economic cycles, AI capabilities only improve. Jobs eliminated by AI automation aren't coming back when the market rebounds.
Productivity paradox: Companies are eliminating workers while maintaining or increasing output through AI tools. Revenue per employee is skyrocketing.
Speed of change: Previous technology shifts took decades. AI is transforming entire job categories in months, giving workers no time to retrain or adapt.
The companies surviving this transformation will be leaner, more automated, and require far fewer human employees. The question isn't whether more layoffs are coming - it's which jobs will still exist by 2030.