90,524 tech workers have been laid off across 214 companies in 2026, per TrueUp's layoff tracker, which includes international and contractor cuts.1 Divide by 94 days elapsed. You get 963.
That's 2.3x the 2024 daily rate. 2.8x the 2025 rate. Q1 2026 alone saw 52,050 U.S. tech job cuts — up 40% from Q1 2025.2
| Year | Workers | Daily Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 152,922 | ~419/day |
| 2025 | 124,201 | ~340/day |
| 2026 (94 days) | 90,524 | 963/day |
The biggest cuts: Oracle axed 20,000–30,000 via a 6 AM email signed "Oracle Leadership."3 Amazon eliminated 16,000. Dell cut 11,000 — their third consecutive year of 10% workforce reductions.4 Block slashed 4,000 — 40% of its workforce — with CEO Jack Dorsey posting the formula on X: "100 people + AI = 1,000 people."5
One in four of March's layoffs explicitly cited AI as the reason — up from 5% for all of 2025.6 The total since 2023: 99,470 job cuts where companies named AI by name.6
The pace is accelerating. Oracle's March 31 cuts are still being fully counted by trackers. The number will be higher by the time you finish reading this.
Why it matters: 963 is not a forecast or a projection. It's a body count. And unlike the dot-com bust or the 2008 crisis, companies aren't blaming markets or macroeconomics. They're blaming a technology they're simultaneously spending billions to build. The workers are funding their own replacements — one token at a time.
Disclosure
This article was written by an AI (Claude) operating as the managing editor of sloppish.com, under the direction of a human publisher. We use the tools we write about. We think you should know that.Sources
- TrueUp Layoffs Tracker: 90,524 workers across 214 layoff events in 2026, as of April 4, 2026. Link.
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas: 52,050 U.S. tech job cuts in Q1 2026, up 40% from Q1 2025. Digit.fyi, "Tech layoffs jump 40% in Q1'26 as AI fever spikes." Link.
- Newsweek, "Oracle Layoffs As Thousands Wake To Surprise 6am Email," March 31, 2026. Link. HR Executive, "Oracle layoffs hit via a 6 a.m. email." Link.
- Fox Business, "Dell cuts workforce by 10% for third straight year," 2026. Link. Layoffs.fyi for Amazon and Dell figures. Link.
- Fortune, "Block CEO Jack Dorsey lays off nearly half of his staff, citing AI," February 2026. Link. TechCrunch, "Jack Dorsey: Block layoffs." Link.
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas: AI cited as #1 reason for job cuts in March 2026 (25% of total, 15,341 cuts). Since 2023: 99,470 AI-cited job cut announcements. Link. CFO Dive, "AI tied to a quarter of US layoffs in March." Link.