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21 Tech Companies That Blamed AI for Layoffs
Monday.com just cut its workforce and pointed at AI efficiency as the cause. They’re not the first. At least 20 other major companies have made the same move since 2024, collectively eliminating hundreds of thousands of positions while posting strong earnings reports. This isn’t a recession. It’s a deliberate reallocation of payroll to profit.
What’s Actually Happening Right Now
In 2025, Monday.com reduced its headcount and cited productivity gains from AI tools as a primary driver. CEO Roy Mann said the company could accomplish more with fewer people. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, AI was cited as a contributing factor in more than 26,000 U.S. job cuts in just the first five months of 2024 alone. By 2026, that number has compounded well past six figures.
This isn’t isolated. Here’s a short list of companies that have publicly cited AI as a reason for workforce reductions: Microsoft, Google, IBM, Salesforce, Klarna, Duolingo, Dropbox, BT Group, SAP, Workday, Meta, Amazon, UPS, Goldman Sachs, Fiverr, Chegg, Dukaan, Buffer, HubSpot, Intuit, and now Monday.com. That’s 21. Some cut dozens. Others cut thousands.
Klarna is one of the most cited examples. According to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna reduced its employee count from roughly 3,800 to 3,500 while maintaining revenue growth, explicitly crediting AI for the productivity gains. The company’s valuation climbed. Shareholders won. Employees lost.
The Numbers Tell the Real Story
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 85 million roles could be displaced by automation and AI by 2025. We’re living in that window right now. But here’s what the WEF buried in the footnotes: 97 million new roles are projected to emerge. The problem is those new roles require different skills, and they won’t be waiting at the same company that just let you go.
According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 500,000 tech workers were laid off across 2024. That’s not a blip. That’s a structural reset of how corporations think about labor costs.
And the companies doing the cutting aren’t bleeding. Microsoft’s revenue hit $245 billion in fiscal year 2024, according to Microsoft’s annual report. Google parent Alphabet crossed $350 billion in revenue the same year. These aren’t distressed businesses. These are profitable companies optimizing their cost structure by replacing labor with software.
I’ve watched this pattern before in manufacturing. When machines replaced assembly line workers in the 1980s, the workers lost and the factory owners won. AI is the same story, just faster and hitting white collar jobs this time. The people who own the tools print cash. The people who only sell their time get squeezed.
If you’re still trading time for a salary at a company that just adopted a major AI platform, you should be building new skills now. Content creators and marketers finding themselves displaced are turning to tools like InVideo AI to produce professional video content without a full production team, which is exactly the kind of capability that keeps you employable when AI trims your department.
What This Means for You
Here’s what I would do if I were a mid-career tech worker right now.
First, stop assuming loyalty protects you. Monday.com employees who were high performers got cut too. The AI efficiency narrative doesn’t care about your performance review score.
Second, build a skill the AI still can’t replicate well: judgment, client relationships, sales, physical presence, creative direction. These still command a premium. Abstract tasks, data entry, customer service scripts, coding boilerplate, basic writing, those are gone or going fast.
Third, start owning tools instead of just using them. If your company is paying $50,000 a year for a software license that replaces three employees, someone owns that software and is collecting checks. You could be doing the same. Sites like AppSumo offer lifetime deals on software products, which means you can own tools at a one-time cost instead of renting them on a monthly subscription forever. That’s the owner mindset in practice.
Fourth, understand that the same AI wave eliminating jobs in big tech is creating real opportunity for small operators. Boutique agencies, solo consultants, and small businesses that adopt AI tools early are doing more with fewer people and charging the same rates as before. The window to get ahead of this is still open. It won’t be for long.
According to McKinsey, less than 5% of jobs are fully automatable today, but up to 60% of jobs have at least 30% of tasks that could be automated. That partial displacement is exactly what justifies smaller teams and flatter payrolls. You don’t have to be fully replaceable to be let go.
The Bottom Line
Monday.com blaming AI for layoffs is not news. It’s a template. Twenty other companies used it before them, and more will follow in 2026 and beyond. The question isn’t whether this trend continues. It will. The question is whether you’re on the right side of it when it hits your industry. Own something. Build something. Stop waiting for your company to protect you, because they’re already reading the same playbook and writing the same press release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Monday.com laying off workers because of AI?
Monday.com cited AI-driven productivity gains as a reason it no longer needs the same headcount to operate at scale. Internal AI tools are now handling work that previously required full-time employees. It’s a cost optimization move dressed up as a technology story.
Which other tech companies have cited AI for layoffs?
Notable examples include Klarna, Duolingo, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Salesforce, Dropbox, Chegg, and more than a dozen others. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, AI was cited in tens of thousands of job cuts in 2024 alone. The list keeps growing in 2026 as more companies complete their AI tool rollouts.
Are AI layoffs going to keep increasing?
Yes. According to the World Economic Forum, tens of millions of roles are at risk of automation over the next several years. Companies that have already adopted AI tools are reporting measurable headcount reductions with flat or rising revenue. That math will attract every public company with shareholders to answer to.
What jobs are safest from AI-related layoffs?
Roles requiring physical presence, complex judgment calls, deep client relationships, and creative direction have the most protection right now. According to McKinsey, up to 60% of jobs have at least 30% of tasks that could be automated, meaning the risk isn’t total elimination but partial displacement that makes smaller teams financially attractive to leadership.
What should I do if my job might be affected by AI?
Start building skills and assets outside your primary job. Learn to use AI tools yourself so you become the person who directs them instead of the person they replace. Build an income source you own, whether that’s a small service business, a content platform, or a software product. Depending entirely on one employer’s payroll is a position of weakness in this environment.
