Tech companies are cutting jobs and betting on AI. The payoff is far from guaranteed

<p>AI experts say we’re living in an experiment that may fundamentally change the model of work</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/feb/17/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&utm_campaign=BN22326&utm_content=signup&utm_term=standfirst&utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB">Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox</a></p></li></ul><p>Hundreds of thousands of tech workers are facing a harsh reality. Their well-paying jobs are no longer safe. Now that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/artificialintelligenceai">artificial intelligence</a> (AI) is here, their futures don’t look as bright as they did a decade ago.</p><p>As US tech companies have ramped up investments in AI, they have slashed a staggering number of jobs. Microsoft cut 15,000 workers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/13/microsoft-layoffs">last</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/13/microsoft-layoffs">year</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/28/amazon-global-job-cuts-email-error-workers-sent">Amazon</a> laid off 30,000 employees in the last six months. The financial-services company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/03/jack-dorsey-block-ai-worker-jobs">Block eliminated</a> more than 4,000 people, or 40% of its workforce, in February. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/technology/meta-layoffs-ai-executives.htmlfb-nytimes&smtyp=cur">Meta</a> laid off more than 1,000 in the last six months, and, according to a Reuters report, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/13/meta-layoffs-ai">may cut 20% of all employees in the near future</a>. Just this week, the software giant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/01/us-tech-firm-oracle-cuts-thousands-of-jobs-as-it-steps-up-ai-spending-larry-ellison">Oracle laid off thousands</a> of workers. Smaller players like <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/27/pinterest-layoffs-stock-ai.html">Pinterest</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/21/atlassian-cuts-layoffs-staff-now-looking-for-work-ai">Atlassian</a> also made recent cuts, culling about 15% and 10% of their workforces, respectively. Estimates put the total number of tech layoffs in the past year at more than 165,000, according to the tracker <a href="https://layoffs.fyi/">Layoffs.fyi</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/06/tech-layoffs-ai-work">Continue reading...</a>