The past month has been unusually turbulent for the global tech industry, with some of its biggest names quietly shrinking their workforce even as they pour billions into AI. What makes this phase more eye-catching is not just the scale of layoffs, but the timing coming at a moment when companies are talking aggressively about growth, innovation, and the future of work. Behind the headlines, thousands of employees are now dealing with sudden exits, uncertain job prospects, and a fast-changing industry that seems to be rewriting its own rules. In just one month, Meta, Oracle, and Microsoft together have impacted around 46,750 employees through layoffs and buyout offers, which is quite shocking and worrying for many in the tech sector.
Meta doubles down on AI, cuts 8,000 jobs in fresh round of layoffs
Meta alone is preparing to cut roughly 8,000 jobs, which is about 10 per cent of its workforce. The company has also decided not to fill thousands of open roles it had previously planned to hire for. The move comes as Meta sharply increases spending on AI, with plans to invest $135 billion this year, an amount nearly equal to what it spent on AI over the past three years combined.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had already hinted at this direction earlier this year, suggesting that AI could reduce the need for large teams. “I think that 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work,” he said.
Inside the company, the change has been hard to miss. Some employees have raised concerns about the growing focus on AI, especially as Meta has begun tracking how workers use their computers to train its systems. One employee described the environment as unsettling, saying, “This company has become obsessed with AI.” The upcoming layoffs will be Meta’s largest since 2023 and add to multiple rounds of job cuts the company has already carried out since 2022.
Oracle layoffs spark employee backlash as 30,000 employees lost jobs
Oracle’s situation has drawn attention not just because of the reported scale, which is reportedly up to 30,000 layoffs, but also due to how the cuts were handled. Many employees say they were caught off guard, receiving termination emails early in the morning with immediate effect.
A widely shared LinkedIn post by a long-time employee, Nina Lewis, captured the mood among those affected. “Well, after 34 (33 of them great) years at Oracle, I join the 30,000 or so laid off today. Quite a shock. Many of the absolute best colleagues were laid off as well,” she wrote.
She also raised concerns about how decisions may have been made, adding, “It seems layoffs follow an algorithm of high-level individual contributors and mid-level managers – especially those with outstanding stock options.” Her comments were echoed by others across teams such as cloud, sales, and customer success, with many describing the layoffs as abrupt and emotionally difficult. Another employee said, “It was a lot of good and smart people,” while also pointing out the lack of a proper farewell.
The company has not officially confirmed the exact number of layoffs, but multiple reports and employee accounts suggest the figure could be as high as 30,000. In India, PTI reported that about 12,000 employees were fired and if we go by a BBC report, thousands of people were not let go off because of any performance issues.
Michael Shepherd, who is a senior manager at Oracle, reported on LinkedIn that “senior engineers, architects, operations leaders, program managers, and technical specialists” were impacted by the latest set of layoffs.
Microsoft offers employees exit with pay
Microsoft, meanwhile, has taken a slightly different route. Instead of direct layoffs, the company is offering voluntary buyouts to about 7 per cent of its US workforce, which is roughly 8,750 employees. This is the first time in its 51-year history that Microsoft has introduced such a retirement programme.
The offer is aimed at employees whose age and years of service add up to 70 or more, giving them an option to leave with financial support. “Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support,” said Amy Coleman, the company’s chief people officer.
The move comes as Microsoft increases spending on data centres and cloud infrastructure to support generative AI. At the same time, it is simplifying performance reviews and changing how stock rewards are distributed internally.