Monday.com joins the AI layoff trend, 20 tech giants follow suit

Another day, another tech company blaming AI for job cuts. This time it's Monday.com, the colorful project management software company. On Wednesday, the Tel Aviv-based firm filed with the SEC that it would lay off about 20% of its workforce—just over 600 people. The official reason? A "restructuring plan" tied to its "ongoing transformation of product, marketing, and go-to-market strategies" to support a "more streamlined and focused operating model." And of course, it's continuing to invest in its "AI-driven growth strategy."

Co-founder Eran Zinman tried to soften the blow in a LinkedIn memo, saying the move was "not to cut costs or replace people with AI," but to adapt to the AI-first vision the company set about a year ago. The restructuring will cost between $45 million and $55 million, but Monday.com still expects revenue to grow up to 20% in 2026.

Monday.com is just the latest ripple in a much bigger wave. According to the Financial Times, nearly 140,000 employees have been laid off by U.S. tech companies so far this year. Amazon, Oracle, Meta, and Microsoft alone account for nearly 50,000 of those. Meanwhile, these same companies are investing hundreds of billions into AI data centers.

Here's an interesting twist: companies that cite AI as a reason for layoffs tend to underperform the Nasdaq by an average of 10% within 30 trading days of their announcements. The market isn't buying the story.

But it's not all doom and gloom. AI-native companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are hiring like crazy. Meta moved about 7,000 people into AI roles (while laying off 8,000). And IBM says it has tripled entry-level hiring in AI and hybrid cloud.

A timeline of AI-driven cuts

Let's look at who else has joined the club:

Microsoft laid off about 4,800 people on July 9, mostly in its Xbox gaming division—a reset after the Activision Blizzard acquisition. The official line: these positions were "not replaced by AI," but "AI is changing how work is done." CFO Amy Hood noted that headcount dropped year-over-year in Q3 and expected further declines.

Oracle disclosed on June 22 that it had cut 21,000 jobs (13% of its workforce) over the past 12 months. Its annual filing was blunt: "The adoption and deployment of AI technology across our operations have already led, and may continue to lead, to a reduction in our workforce." Net income jumped 27% to $3.7 billion, and savings went into AI data centers.

GitLab laid off about 350 people (14%) on June 3 to fund AI infrastructure and handle traffic from AI workflows. It exited 22 countries, flattened management, and partnered with an AI lab for a "generational rebuild." CEO Bill Staples said intelligent agent workloads are pushing competitors "to the edge."

Google extended layoffs through May 2026, focusing on the Cloud division—including threat intelligence and cybersecurity teams. Through performance reviews, buyouts, and reorganization, an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 engineers will be let go. Irony alert: Cloud revenue jumped 63% to over $20 billion, and backlogged orders nearly doubled to $46 billion.

Intuit laid off about 3,000 people (17%) on May 20. CEO Sasan Goodarzi said it was to reduce complexity and shift toward AI.

Meta laid off about 8,000 people (10%) between May 20 and 21, while moving 7,000 into AI roles—causing employee backlash. Zuckerberg's reason: "Success with AI is not guaranteed."

Cisco laid off nearly 4,000 people (5%) on May 14, despite record financials. CFO Mark Patterson said it was "not cost-cutting, but reallocation around chips, optical modules, security, and AI."

Cloudflare laid off about 20% (1,100 people) on May 7-8, with revenue hitting a record $639.8 million (up 34%). CEO Matthew Prince said those let go were "mostly measurers"—middle management, finance, legal, internal audit.

General Motors laid off 500 to 600 IT staff on May 12, citing AI as one factor. It kept about 80 open IT positions, including AI roles.

Coinbase laid off about 700 people (14%) on May 5, flattening its hierarchy to five levels below CEO/COO. CEO Brian Armstrong said AI allows "engineers to complete work that took a team weeks in just days."

PayPal announced on the same day it would lay off about 20% (over 4,500 people) over two to three years. CEO Enrique Lores emphasized "aggressive AI adoption" and created a new "AI Transformation and Simplification" team.

Snap laid off about 1,000 people (16%) on April 16. CEO Evan Spiegel said "rapid progress in AI has allowed our teams to reduce repetitive work and increase speed."

IBM laid off 3,000 to 9,000 U.S. positions through 2026, with about 200 HR roles replaced by AI bots. Since September 2024, over 15,000 employees have been let go. Bloomberg reported IBM plans to triple entry-level hiring in AI and hybrid cloud.

Atlassian laid off about 1,600 people (10%) on March 11, shifting focus to AI and enterprise sales. CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes: "Our approach is not 'AI replacing people,' but pretending AI doesn't change staffing is not honest."

Dell cut its workforce by about 10% (11,000 people) in fiscal year 2026, with severance costs of $569 million. It expects AI-optimized server revenue to double in 2027.

Block laid off 4,000 people (nearly half) on February 26-27. Jack Dorsey said, "We've seen smart tools create a new way of working."

Salesforce laid off fewer than 1,000 people on February 10, after cutting 4,000 customer service roles. Benioff explicitly said AI bots are doing the work, so "there are fewer heads."

Amazon laid off 16,000 company positions on January 28 (including 14,000 in October 2025), about 9% of its workforce in three months. CEO Andy Jassy had warned in June 2025 that as generative AI expands, "fewer people will do some jobs... our total company headcount will decrease."

The bottom line

From Amazon's 16,000 to Monday.com's 600, AI has cut through almost every major company in 2026. The message is consistent: models are getting smarter, headcounts are shrinking. But the market isn't entirely convinced—stock prices tell a different story.

Key Points

Monday.com lays off 600 employees (20% of workforce) citing AI transformation
Nearly 140,000 tech workers laid off in U.S. this year, with AI often cited as reason
Companies citing AI for layoffs underperform Nasdaq by 10% on average
AI-native firms like Anthropic and OpenAI are hiring rapidly
Major tech companies continue massive investments in AI infrastructure

Monday.com joins the AI layoff trend, 20 tech giants follow suit