Tech Layoffs in 2026 Already Beat Last Year’s Total as Google, Zillow and TikTok Cut Hundreds
Tech layoffs in 2026 have already surpassed last year’s total as of 6 August, 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.
Zillow Leads Tech Layoffs in 2026
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. Despite that growth, the company reported a net loss of nearly £3 million ($4 million) for the quarter.
Zillow’s shares fell more than 7% after the results, while the stock was down over 49% year to date, according to the report. The figures underline the pressure on technology companies to demonstrate financial discipline even when parts of the business are still growing. Revenue alone, apparently, is no longer enough.
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.
It was reported that affected employees received emails informing them of the cuts on 5 August. TikTok said it had decided to close the office ‘to streamline our operations and better align our teams for long-term growth.’
The Nashville layoffs came shortly after a controversial TikTok livestream involving celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, during which he reportedly carried out acts of self-harm. Users criticised the platform after the footage remained available, and TikTok blamed a moderator error.
However, the source report said the job cuts were not thought to be connected to that incident, and there is no confirmation linking the two events.
What Tech Layoffs in 2026 Say About Restructuring
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.
‘We didn’t want to ask teams to build those plans around an organisation we already knew needed to change,’ Goyal wrote in a letter to employees, later published on Etsy’s website. She also rejected the idea that AI had driven the decision. ‘These decisions weren’t driven by AI,’ Goyal said. ‘Ultimately, our future depends on the creativity, judgement and expertise of our people.’
Etsy reported second-quarter revenue of approximately £498.5 million ($668.3 million), up 6.2% year on year. The company is nevertheless dealing with increased competition from other online marketplaces and weaker customer momentum than during the pandemic years.
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.
Google described the reductions to The Seattle Times as a team-level reorganisation rather than part of a wider company-wide layoff round. That distinction matters to those still inside the industry, where a local restructure can feel every bit as consequential as a national announcement.
The figures point to a broader shift in how technology companies are managing costs. As firms spend heavily on AI infrastructure and other capital projects, they are looking for savings elsewhere.
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. 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.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
