Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Monday, May 18, 2026
Cisco Cuts 4,000 Jobs Despite Record Revenue, Redirecting Investment to AI
Cisco announced it is eliminating nearly 4,000 jobs — approximately 5% of its global workforce — even as the company reported record quarterly revenue of $15.8 billion, a 12% year-over-year gain. CEO Chuck Robbins framed the restructuring as a strategic shift to redirect investment toward AI, silicon optics, and cybersecurity, the areas he identified as highest in long-term demand. Notifications to affected employees began May 14. The company expects restructuring costs of up to $1 billion, primarily severance. This marks Cisco’s second major round of layoffs in just over a year; the company shed approximately 6,000 positions in early 2025. Affected employees will receive severance, quarterly bonus payments, and career placement services.
Sources: TechCrunch · The Tech Portal
LinkedIn Cuts 875 Jobs in Global Reorganization Despite Strong Revenue Growth
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn cut approximately 875 employees — roughly 5% of its global workforce — across engineering, product, marketing, and corporate teams in a reorganization announced May 13. The company is also closing its Graz, Austria office and reducing vendor spending. What distinguishes these cuts from the wave of AI-driven layoffs sweeping tech: LinkedIn explicitly did not cite artificial intelligence as the driver, a notable departure from industry norms in 2026. The cuts arrive despite the platform posting strong double-digit revenue growth, and as the company continues to invest heavily in AI recruiting tools, with its Hiring Assistant products on track to generate $450 million in annual revenue.
Sources: TechRepublic · GeekWire
AI Skills Now Required in 71% of U.S. Tech Job Postings as Market Surges
Artificial intelligence fluency has effectively become a baseline requirement across the U.S. tech job market: 71% of tech job postings now require AI skills, up from 67% in March and 181% higher than one year ago, according to Dice’s latest tracking data. Tech job postings rose 5% month-over-month in April and are up 21% year-over-year — the strongest annual gain of 2026 so far. Skills-based hiring is accelerating in parallel, with employers increasingly deprioritising degree requirements in favour of demonstrated technical competencies. Nearly two-thirds of technology hiring managers report it is harder to find skilled candidates than a year ago, even as posting volumes continue to grow.
Sources: Dice Insights · GoodTime
AI Engineer Salaries Split: $160K Median vs. $1M+ at Frontier Labs
AI engineering compensation in 2026 has split decisively into two markets. At mainstream tech employers, AI/ML engineers earn a median of roughly $160,000 annually, with the range running from $134,000 to $193,250 — and salaries growing at 4.1%, more than double the 1.6% average tech-sector increase. At the frontier-lab tier, compensation is in another stratosphere: senior engineers at organisations like OpenAI command $300,000 to $500,000+ in total compensation, with elite hires in reported packages exceeding $1 million annually. A PwC analysis of nearly one billion job ads found AI skills now carry a 56% wage premium, up sharply from 25% the prior year.
LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant Hits $450M ARR as Unified Data Platform Goes Live
LinkedIn’s AI-powered recruiting tools are generating approximately $450 million in annualised revenue, underscoring enterprise appetite for automation that handles end-to-end hiring workflows. The platform’s Hiring Assistant — which sources candidates, reviews profiles, and manages follow-ups — helped pilot users save more than four hours per open role and review 62% fewer profiles manually. LinkedIn also launched a unified integrations platform in May that standardises how hiring data moves across ATS and HRIS systems, cutting ATS onboarding time by 72% and improving data consistency. Separately, the company unveiled an AI labour marketplace where members can earn up to $150 per hour training AI models in coding, finance, and nursing.
Tech Layoffs Top 113,000 in 2026 as Meta Prepares Another 8,000 Cuts
Tech industry layoffs in 2026 have crossed 113,000 workers across 179 events — averaging 831 job losses daily — as companies accelerate AI-driven restructuring. Meta is preparing an additional round of cuts affecting approximately 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushes toward an AI-first operating structure. Zuckerberg told staff the cuts are a direct consequence of the company’s AI infrastructure commitment; the company is choosing to buy GPUs rather than retain headcount. The first quarter of 2026 alone saw nearly 80,000 tech workers laid off globally, with AI cited as a top factor in nearly half of all cuts. Oracle holds 2026’s single largest layoff: 30,000 employees.
Sources: InformationWeek · Crunchbase News
Peraton Names Bridget Coulon CHRO After 26-Year Career at Northrop Grumman
Bridget Coulon has joined Peraton as chief human resources officer, bringing 26 years of experience from Northrop Grumman, where she most recently served as vice president of total rewards, overseeing enterprise-wide compensation and benefits programmes. Peraton, a technology integration company focused on national security and defence, has tasked Coulon with designing new talent acquisition and organisational development strategies aligned with the company’s long-term growth plans. Her appointment reflects a broader trend across defence-adjacent tech firms: elevated investment in senior HR leadership as talent competition intensifies. Peraton competes for specialised engineering and cleared-professional talent in one of the tightest labour sub-markets in U.S. technology.
Sources: Washington Technology
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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