Monday.com joins 20 rivals in cutting jobs to AI

A project management platform recognized for its vibrant boards has cited artificial intelligence as a key factor in this week’s workforce reductions. Tel Aviv-based Monday.com disclosed in a Wednesday SEC filing that it will reduce its staff by approximately 20%, impacting just over 600 employees, as part of a restructuring initiative tied to its "ongoing transformation of product, marketing, and go-to-market strategies." The goal is to establish a "more streamlined and focused operating model" while maintaining investments in its "AI-driven growth strategy." Co-founder Eran Zinman clarified in a LinkedIn post that the move was not intended to cut costs or replace staff with AI, but rather to align with an AI-first vision introduced roughly a year ago. With two U.S. offices, the company estimates restructuring costs between $45 million and $55 million, yet projects revenue growth of up to 20% for 2026.

Monday.com’s announcement reflects a broader industry trend. According to the Financial Times, U.S. tech firms have laid off nearly 140,000 employees this year, with giants like Amazon, Oracle, Meta, and Microsoft accounting for roughly 50,000 of those cuts. Paradoxically, these same companies are investing hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure. The FT noted a market signal: companies citing AI as the primary reason for layoffs saw their stock underperform the Nasdaq by an average of 10% within 30 trading days of the announcement, suggesting investor skepticism. Conversely, AI-native firms like Anthropic and OpenAI are expanding rapidly. Meta shifted approximately 7,000 employees into AI roles (amidst 8,000 layoffs), and IBM reported tripling entry-level hiring in AI and hybrid cloud sectors.

The list of major corporations publicly linking layoffs to AI continues to expand.

On July 9, Microsoft reduced its workforce by approximately 4,800 employees, representing 2.1% of its global staff, primarily within the Xbox division following three years of Activision Blizzard acquisitions. The company also offered undisclosed voluntary exit packages. While stating these roles were "not replaced by AI," Microsoft acknowledged that "AI is changing how work is done." CFO Amy Hood noted a year-over-year decline in total headcount during the third quarter, with further reductions expected.

Oracle revealed on June 22 that it had reduced its workforce by 21,000 employees (a 13% drop) over the previous 12 months, exceeding prior estimates. Its annual regulatory filing explicitly stated: "The adoption and deployment of AI technology across our operations have already led, and may continue to lead, to a reduction in our workforce." Between March 5 and 31, Oracle notified staff via email. Despite this, the company reported a $3.7 billion net income (up 27% year-over-year) and a 325% surge in remaining performance obligations to $553 billion, with savings redirected toward AI data centers.

GitLab eliminated approximately 350 roles (14% of staff) on June 3 to fund AI infrastructure and manage increased traffic from AI workflows. The company exited 22 countries, flattened its management structure, and partnered with an AI lab to rebuild its platform. CEO Bill Staples stated that intelligent agent workloads are pushing competitors "to the edge," necessitating a "generational rebuild" to support exponential growth. First-quarter revenue reached $264 million (up 23%), with restructuring costs estimated between $30 million and $35 million.

Google’s workforce reductions extended through May 2026, targeting the Cloud division, including threat intelligence and cybersecurity teams associated with Mandiant. Through performance reviews, buyouts, and reorganization, an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 engineers will be let go by 2026. Ironically, Cloud revenue surged 63% year-over-year to exceed $20 billion, with backlog orders nearly doubling to over $46 billion. Over the past year, Google also reduced small team managers by 35%, though total numbers were not disclosed.

Intuit laid off approximately 3,000 employees (17%) on May 20. CEO Sasan Goodarzi explained the move was aimed at reducing complexity and simplifying structures to deliver better products, with a strategic shift toward AI. Between May 20 and 21, Meta laid off about 8,000 employees (10%) while moving roughly 7,000 into AI roles, a move that reportedly sparked employee backlash. Zuckerberg cited that "success with AI is not guaranteed" as the rationale.

Cisco eliminated nearly 4,000 positions (5% of staff) on May 14, despite record financial performance. CFO Mark Patterson clarified this was "not a cost-cutting restructuring, but a reallocation of resources around chips, optical modules, security, and AI." Cloudflare reduced its workforce by about 20% (1,100 people) on May 7-8, achieving record quarterly revenue of $639.8 million (up 34%). CEO Matthew Prince noted that the affected staff were "mostly measurers"—including middle management, finance, legal, internal audit, and revenue recognition roles.

General Motors laid off 500 to 600 IT staff in Austin and Warren on May 12. While AI was a factor, it was not the sole driver. The company stated it was "transforming its information technology organization," while retaining approximately 80 IT openings, including AI-related roles. On May 5, Coinbase laid off about 700 employees (14%), flattening its hierarchy to five levels below the CEO/COO and experimenting with "one-person teams." CEO Brian Armstrong stated that AI enables "engineers to complete work that took a team weeks in just days," emphasizing that "AI needs to be leveraged at every step." On the same day, PayPal announced it would lay off about 20% (over 4,500 people) over the next two to three years. CEO Enrique Lores stressed the need for "aggressive AI adoption" and established a new "AI Transformation and Simplification" team reporting directly to the CEO.

Microsoft also conducted undisclosed voluntary buyouts in April and May, with the CFO attributing headcount declines to increased AI investments. On April 16, Snap laid off approximately 1,000 employees (16%) and closed 300 positions. CEO Evan Spiegel noted that "the rapid progress in AI has allowed our teams to reduce repetitive work and increase speed," with small teams using AI already showing positive results. IBM’s layoffs spanned 2026, including Red Hat engineering cuts in Q4 2025 and April 2026, affecting an estimated 3,000 to 9,000 U.S. positions. Since September 2024, over 15,000 employees have been laid off, with approximately 200 HR roles replaced by AI bots. Bloomberg reported IBM plans to triple entry-level hiring in AI and hybrid cloud roles, while a spokesperson described Q4 2025 as a routine rebalancing.

On March 11, Atlassian laid off approximately 1,600 employees (10%), shifting focus to AI and enterprise sales, resulting in a 2% stock price increase. CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes stated: "Our approach is not 'AI replacing people,' but pretending AI doesn't change staffing is not honest." Dell reduced its workforce by about 10% (approximately 11,000 people) to 97,000 in fiscal year 2026 (disclosed in March), incurring $569 million in severance costs. The company expects AI-optimized server revenue to double in the 2027 fiscal year. Block laid off 4,000 employees (nearly half, leaving fewer than 6,000) on February 26-27. Jack Dorsey remarked, "We've seen smart tools create a new way of working," predicting most companies will follow suit within a year.

Salesforce laid off fewer than 1,000 employees (in marketing, product, data analysis, and Agentforce AI) on February 10, following previous cuts of 4,000 customer service roles (reducing the team from 9,000 to 5,000). The company told Fortune that thanks to Agentforce, "we saw a decline in customer service demand, no longer needing to proactively hire." Benioff explicitly stated that AI bots are performing the work, resulting in "fewer heads."

On January 28, Amazon laid off 16,000 positions (including 14,000 in October 2025), representing about 9% of its workforce within three months. CEO Andy Jassy had previously warned in June 2025 that as generative AI expands, "fewer people will do some jobs... our total company headcount will decrease."

From Amazon’s 16,000 cuts at the start of the year to Monday.com’s 600 in the summer, AI has impacted nearly every major corporation in 2026. Each announcement conveys the same underlying message: as models become smarter, headcounts decline. Meanwhile, the market continues to express skepticism through stock performance.