Meta cut 31,000 jobs. Amazon cut 27,000. Intel cut 15,000 in a single announcement. Five companies alone account for over 100,000 of the tech industry's 700,000+ layoffs since 2020.
The tech layoff cycle of 2022–2025 is one of the largest peacetime workforce restructurings in corporate history. It happened in two distinct waves — and if you want to understand which companies drove it, the data is stark.
Tech Layoff Count by Company: The Full Rankings (2020–2025)
Cumulative cuts across all announced rounds. Source: Layoffs.fyi, company earnings calls, and public filings.
| Rank | Company | Total Cuts |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Meta | 31,000+ |
| #2 | Amazon | 27,000+ |
| #3 | Intel | ~15,000 |
| #4 | Microsoft | ~15,000 |
| #5 | Google / Alphabet | ~13,000 |
| #6 | SAP | ~10,000 |
| #7 | Cisco | ~8,500 |
| #8 | Dell | ~8,000 |
| #9 | Salesforce | ~8,000 |
| #10 | IBM | ~7,800 |
| #11 | Philips | ~7,000 |
| #12 | Ericsson | ~5,400 |
* Counts include all publicly announced rounds. Actual totals may be higher due to unreported quiet cuts and contractor reductions.
The Breakdown Behind Each Wave
11,000 in Nov 2022, 10,000 in Mar 2023, plus additional waves
18,000 announced Jan 2023, additional 9,000 in Mar 2023 (AWS, Twitch, Audible)
15,000 announced Aug 2024 (~15% of workforce) plus 1,000+ earlier cuts
10,000 in Jan 2023, 1,900 gaming in May 2023, ~1,000 Azure/Teams in 2024
12,000 in Jan 2023, ~1,000+ additional restructuring through 2024
Two Waves, Two Different Causes
Wave 1: 2022–2023 (Overhiring Reversal)
- • Pandemic hiring grew big tech headcount 40–70% in 2020–2021
- • Fed rate hikes crushed ad revenue and growth multiples
- • Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft reversed 2–3 years of hiring in months
- • ~263,000 total tech layoffs in 2023 — the peak year on record
Wave 2: 2024–2025 (AI-Driven Restructuring)
- • Intel cuts 15,000 amid chip competition and AI architecture shift
- • Cisco cuts 8,500 as networking hardware commoditizes
- • SAP cuts 10,000 to "pivot toward AI" — analyst role elimination
- • Unlike Wave 1, these cuts are not reversing — they are structural
The Percentage-of-Workforce Lens
Raw headcount numbers favor large companies. Adjusted for workforce size, the picture is different. Twitter/X under Elon Musk cut approximately 75% of its workforce — from roughly 7,500 to under 2,000. That dwarfs everything else by percentage, though the absolute number (~5,500) is smaller than a single Meta announcement.
Oct–Nov 2022 under Musk
~75%
~5,500 jobs
2022, plus 1,072 more in 2023
~26%
~1,700 jobs
Aug 2022 amid ad revenue collapse
~20%
~1,300 jobs
Aug 2024 single announcement
~15%
~15,000 jobs
Jan 2023
~10%
~7,000 jobs
Nov 2022
~14%
~1,100 jobs
What the 2025 Layoff Count Looks Like Now
By mid-2025, tech layoffs had crossed 100,000 for the year — marking the third consecutive year above that threshold. The pace is lower than 2023 but higher than pre-pandemic norms (~30,000–50,000/year).
The notable shift in 2025: layoffs are increasingly targeting mid-level managers and knowledge workers in roles now being augmented by AI. Companies like Klarna, Duolingo, and Shopify have publicly stated they are replacing certain functions with AI agents, not rehiring into them.
This matters because it changes how quickly these workers are rehired. In 2023, most laid-off tech workers found new jobs within 3–6 months. In 2025, the rehire rate is slower — particularly for content, analytics, and customer success roles where AI substitution is highest.
Track the live tech layoff count on our Layoffs Dashboard — updated as new rounds are announced.
My Read as an Investor
I've backed 65+ companies across three funds. The companies that successfully hired in 2020–2021 and then had to cut in 2022–2023 almost universally say the same thing: they hired for growth that hadn't arrived yet. The discipline they rediscovered during layoffs was painful but real.
What I watch now: the net headcount trend at Magnificent 7 companies is the leading indicator for mid-stage startup hiring markets. When Google and Amazon resume net hiring, the broader tech job market follows within 6–9 months. That signal turned positive in late 2023 and 2024 — but 2025's AI restructuring is introducing a second layer of disruption that doesn't track the old pattern.
The companies that will win the next cycle are the ones building lean-by-design on AI infrastructure — not companies that got lean by accident through layoffs and are now trying to grow back.
700,000+ tech jobs cut since 2020. Five companies account for over 100,000 of them.
The next wave isn't overhiring in reverse — it's AI restructuring forward. Those jobs aren't coming back.
Monitor live tech layoff counts and company-level data on the Layoffs Dashboard at Value Add VC. Originally published in the Trace Cohen newsletter.