Global Tech-Sector Layoffs Surpass 244,000 In 2025 (networkworld.com) 27
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: The global technology sector eliminated some 244,851 jobs in 2025, according to a report from RationalFX. The U.K.-based financial services company says the worldwide downsizing reflects how companies in 2025 restructured their operations to focus on efficiency, profitability, and AI-driven productivity. The RationalFX analysis, which examined layoffs reported by TrueUp, TechCrunch, and multiple state WARN databases, points to economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates, and accelerating AI and automation adoption as reasons that 2025 marked "another year of sustained downsizing following the post-pandemic correction that began in 2022."
Companies indicated that AI and automation were among the most frequently cited drivers for layoffs in 2025. Some companies retrained employees when faced with the technology; many replaced roles entirely, RationalFX reports. "Tech sector layoffs in 2025 displaced hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide as companies accelerated structural resets rather than short-term cost corrections," said Alan Cohen, analyst at RationalFX, in a statement. "While macroeconomic pressures such as high interest rates, trade restrictions, and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on business confidence, the dominant force behind last year's job cuts was the rapid adoption of automation and artificial intelligence."
The analysis also uncovered that U.S.-headquartered technology companies were responsible for the majority of job losses, accounting for approximately 69.7% of all global tech layoffs. This resulted in more than 170,000 employees being cut across both domestic and offshore operations from U.S. tech companies. California spearheaded layoffs in the U.S. tech sector this year, with 73,499 job cuts accounting for roughly 43.08% of all tech layoffs in the country, according to the RationalFX report. The report also points out that Washington has seen 42,221 tech jobs cut since the start of the year, accounting for 24.74% of all U.S. tech layoffs. Intel contributed the single largest number of layoffs last year, reducing its headcount from 109,000 people at the end of 2024 to around 75,000 by the end of 2025. Other major U.S. tech companies with large-scale layoffs last year include Amazon (more than 20,000 jobs cut), Microsoft (approximately 19,215 layoffs), Verizon (15,000 employees), Accenture (11,000 employees), IBM (9,000 job cuts), and HP (6,000 roles).
Companies indicated that AI and automation were among the most frequently cited drivers for layoffs in 2025. Some companies retrained employees when faced with the technology; many replaced roles entirely, RationalFX reports. "Tech sector layoffs in 2025 displaced hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide as companies accelerated structural resets rather than short-term cost corrections," said Alan Cohen, analyst at RationalFX, in a statement. "While macroeconomic pressures such as high interest rates, trade restrictions, and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on business confidence, the dominant force behind last year's job cuts was the rapid adoption of automation and artificial intelligence."
The analysis also uncovered that U.S.-headquartered technology companies were responsible for the majority of job losses, accounting for approximately 69.7% of all global tech layoffs. This resulted in more than 170,000 employees being cut across both domestic and offshore operations from U.S. tech companies. California spearheaded layoffs in the U.S. tech sector this year, with 73,499 job cuts accounting for roughly 43.08% of all tech layoffs in the country, according to the RationalFX report. The report also points out that Washington has seen 42,221 tech jobs cut since the start of the year, accounting for 24.74% of all U.S. tech layoffs. Intel contributed the single largest number of layoffs last year, reducing its headcount from 109,000 people at the end of 2024 to around 75,000 by the end of 2025. Other major U.S. tech companies with large-scale layoffs last year include Amazon (more than 20,000 jobs cut), Microsoft (approximately 19,215 layoffs), Verizon (15,000 employees), Accenture (11,000 employees), IBM (9,000 job cuts), and HP (6,000 roles).
Good luck translating that into revenue (Score:4, Insightful)
It's been tough to translate AI productivity improvements into improved revenue. I predict that for the most part we'll see companies cut too much staff, lose a lot of institutional experience, and scramble to rehire when their competition does likewise.
The business world moves as a flock, it's a bit like sheep without a shepherd. And when half of us drown the ones that break away from the flock are the ones that survive.
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"We don't need as many employees thanks to AI" is often an excuse to lay off due to slack sales without spooking investors. They hope investors see it as a sign the company is modernizing instead of having slack sales, the likely real reason.
So take such claims with a big grain of salt.
Re: Good luck translating that into revenue (Score:3)
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Probably. But I think quite a few of the ones starting out with the pretext then start to believe it themselves and do damage.
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The problem I have with the logic that using AI means you don't need as many employees. It's indirectly claiming their industry is limited to some finite amount of production. Not how it works, every good employee you have working for you is producing more than it costs you to pay them. If you can suddenly afford to make your current staffing more productive without raising payroll, then by God why not do that? (I know why, it's because the rich are extracting capital from their businesses. they don't care
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> It's indirectly claiming their industry is limited to some finite amount of production. Not how it works,
If you are an oligopoly or monopoly, then the market may actually already be too crowded to make expansion worth it. More production on your part just lowers prices and hurts your profits.
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More like impossible unless you make LLM hardware or build datacenters. OpenAI bleeds money like crazy and so are its competitors. There is, as of yet, no working business model that would even allow a break-even on the extreme cost. And we are 3 years in. It seems unlikely that business model can be found.
I do agree that the damage done is spectacular. And you usually cannot get that lost institutional experience back. That pretty much means quite a few enterprises going into collapse or irrelevancy.
The business world moves as a flock, it's a bit like sheep without a shepherd. And when half of us drown the ones that break away from the flock are the ones that survive.
That i
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Why would essentials become guaranteed when ownership of property is power, both social and political. Maybe the price system collapses when there is no scarcity, but artificial scarcity will continue on even if it takes the force of violence to maintain it.
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They will probably just shoot people. The are already running tests in that after all.
We put a convicted felon in charge of America (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been going through the cycle since I was a kid and I'm old as dirt. Voters put a republican in charge and the Republican breaks the economy. Then voters put a democrat in charge who tries to fix it but they don't fix it fast enough for the voters liking so they put another Republican in charge who breaks the economy worse this time.
It is a fact that the economy does better under Democrats but ask voters and they'll tell you the opposite is true. Because facts may not care about your feelings but voters don't care about facts.
Ordinarily we get 8 years of the Democrats trying to patch it up before the voters fuck up and put another Republican in the office but we only got 4 years this time so Jesus fuck is it going to hurt
This really is a partisan issue. The Republicans are objectively bad for america, and for your pocketbook if you have less than 100 million dollars in the bank.
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It doesn't do any good to correct their lies (Score:2, Troll)
Ideally what you want to do is respond with a counter narrative. If you're just responding to some random asshole then I like to respond with someth
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Sorry Hunter. /. has become a Democrat only zone.
Dissent will not be tolerated!
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Allegedly the fraud in MN was $250 million dollars. Hardly one of the biggest. Philip Esformes was convicted of defrauding 1.2 BILLION dollars from Medicare. Trump commuted his sentence. Let that sink in. A guy who was convicted of a fraud over 4 times bigger than the one in Minnesota is out there walking around free because a Republican let him go. Republicans don't care about fraud.
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A minor correction:
Trump commuted Esformes’ prison term but did not pardon him. The commutation allowed Esformes to be released early, but the rest of his sentence—including three years of supervised release and $44 million in restitution—remained in effect.
A pardon wipes out a crime and the person’s criminal record. Commutation shortens the prison sentence. Several former attorneys general supported Esformes’ commutation due to prosecutorial misconduct during his trial, includ
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There's nothing to correct. I didn't say he was pardoned. I said he's out of prison, which he is. If thinking a guy who effectively steals a billion dollars from each state should rot in prison forever makes me a politically obsessed whackjob, I'm glad to be one. Next time you read a post like mine and come close to touching hands to keyboard, please make due on your threats and disregard me instead of replying.
AI is the cover story (Score:2)
The financial community and financial analysts need to start asking how come corporate top line revenue, excluding the largest 10 companies, has been declining or flat adjusted for inflation for the last 10 years.
AI is the cover story for many companies which are restructuring due to demographic shifts, a decade of cost cutting as a business plan, focusing on things which increase executive compensation instead of new product development and letting C level executives age in place via stagnation and keeping
Don't doubt it (Score:2)
But these numbers only indicate Layoffs and eliminations of positions. What is the NET loss of jobs in the tech industry?