How much is AI really impacting layoffs?
Last month there were 213,000 new unemployment claims in the U.S. bringing the current total number of unemployment claims to $1.85 million.
How much of that is AI related?
According the Harvard Business Journal, over 45 CEOs have announced layoffs due to AI efficiencies, totaling over 100,000 employees since last year. Most notable are Atlassian announcing 10% cuts (1,600 jobs, 900 of which are in the U.S.), Block announcing 4,000 cuts and Pinterest laying off ~15%, which is about 700 employees.
On the flipside of that, 230,000 new tech related roles were created in February 2026; with the majority of the demand being AI engineers, software developers, cloud engineers, and cybersecurity analysts\engineers.
The demand is still there for many roles, however both competition and geography are factors in that, as only 13% of tech roles in 2026 are remote.
Update (3/16)
Meta considering layoffs to the tune of +/- 20% which could be roughly 16,000 people. This is to “offset” AI costs.
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