Big Tech cut more than 80,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026, and the sector's preferred explanation, at least in public, has been artificial intelligence. But the numbers, the timing and the people doing the talking suggest a messier story, one that stretches from Silicon Valley boardrooms to workers staring down a brutally uncertain market.
The news came after a sharp acceleration in technology layoffs compared with a year earlier, when 103 tech companies cut around 30,000 jobs in Q1 2025.
