BlockBeats News, July 25th, according to data jointly compiled by The Financial Times and Challenger, Gray and Christmas, since 2026, the tech industry in the United States has accounted for over one-third of all announced layoffs in the country. Only Amazon, Oracle, Meta, and Microsoft have laid off nearly 50,000 people, approximately 6% of their total workforce. In stark contrast, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft are expected to invest up to $725 billion this year in AI infrastructure such as data centers. Following a workforce reduction of 21,000 employees after layoffs in March, Oracle had its credit rating downgraded by S&P this month due to weak cash flow and uncertainty around AI returns. Microsoft, on the other hand, cut 4,800 positions this month, mainly focusing on the Xbox gaming division, essentially resetting its strategy following the $7.5 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard three years ago.

The academic community holds a skeptical view of the narrative that "AI is causing layoffs." Enrico Moretti, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed out that AI-related layoffs are more of an excuse by management to correct over-hiring during the pandemic. He stated, "Claiming that AI brings efficiency improvements is easier than admitting that they initially hired too many people." Market pricing also provides a negative signal, as companies attributing layoffs to AI saw their stock prices underperform the Nasdaq by nearly 10% in the 30 trading days following the announcement, while companies laying off employees for other reasons lagged by only about 4%. Both Amazon and Microsoft have explicitly stated that the widespread adoption of AI technology is not the determining factor for layoffs. In contrast to the tech giants contracting non-core businesses, native AI startups like Anthropic and OpenAI continue to rapidly expand their workforce. Employment in the AI field is growing rapidly, with the downsizing only affecting all other non-core activities.