A new wave of job cuts swept through the global technology sector in January, eliminating nearly 25,000 roles in a single month and signaling that the post-pandemic workforce reset is far from over. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows that 24,818 jobs were cut across 27 technology companies in January alone, extending a downsizing cycle that has now reached beyond startups to some of the world's most profitable corporations.
The scope of the reductions spans geographies and business models. Cuts were reported in the United States, Europe and Asia, hitting companies as varied as Amazon, Meta, Ericsson and Indian gaming firm Zupee. The breadth of the layoffs suggests a structural shift rather than a localized slowdown.
At Amazon, the latest reductions marked one of the largest single moves. The company announced 16,000 corporate layoffs on Jan. 28, following the elimination of roughly 14,000 white-collar roles in October 2025. Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the cuts were aimed at "reduce layers, increase ownership, and remove bureaucracy," framing the move as an efficiency drive rather than a response to falling revenue.
Meta has also continued trimming headcount, cutting about 1,500 employees from its Reality Labs division, or roughly 10% of the unit. The division has accumulated more than $83.5 billion in losses since 2020, as Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg shifts capital and talent away from virtual reality and toward artificial intelligence research.
The retrenchment is no longer confined to technology. Large financial institutions are also reducing staff as automation accelerates. Citigroup cut roughly 1,000 jobs in early January as part of Chief Executive Jane Fraser's multiyear restructuring plan to shrink the bank's workforce from 246,000 in 2022 to about 180,000 by the end of 2026. In an internal memo, Fraser wrote, "We are not graded on effort. We are judged on our results."
Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason has said headcount will "continue to trend downward" as artificial intelligence tools are deployed more widely across operations. Asset manager BlackRock, which oversees $13.5 trillion in assets, cut about 250 jobs in January, its third round of layoffs in a year, according to Bloomberg, as Larry Fink reallocates resources toward private credit.
Survey data suggests the pressure may intensify. A Resume.org poll of 1,000 U.S. hiring leaders found that more than half expect their organizations to shrink by 2026. Nearly half cited artificial intelligence as the primary driver of future job losses, and a similar share said higher-paid, more senior staff were most at risk.
