U.S. Tech Sector Posts Highest Monthly Job Cuts in Nearly Two Years

The U.S. technology sector announced 38,242 job cuts in May 2026 — the highest monthly total since August 2024 — according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data reported by Bloomberg. Year-to-date tech cuts now stand at 123,653, up more than 65% over the same period in 2025. Artificial intelligence was cited as the top driver, accounting for 40% of all May job cuts nationwide and 87,714 tech-sector cuts so far this year — already surpassing AI’s entire 2025 attribution total. While tech firms are announcing the most cuts of any sector, they are simultaneously posting the biggest hiring plans, targeting AI, security, and cloud infrastructure roles.

Uber Slashes 23% of HR and Recruiting Division

Uber eliminated 23% of its People and Places division on June 3, affecting employees in human resources, recruiting, workplace facilities, and company culture. The company cited organizational complexity and overlapping responsibilities, explicitly denying any AI connection. The denial drew immediate scrutiny: Uber’s CTO disclosed in April that the company exhausted its entire annual AI coding tools budget in just four months, driven by surging adoption of Anthropic’s Claude Code and Cursor among engineers, with 95% of engineers now using AI tools monthly. The cuts represent less than 1% of Uber’s approximately 34,000 corporate employees globally, but signal growing efficiency pressure on HR and recruiting back-office functions across the tech sector.

Oracle’s 30,000-Person Layoff Wave Enters Final Phase

Oracle’s workforce reduction — the largest single tech layoff of 2026 — is entering its final phase, with approximately 30,000 employees affected globally, representing 18% of its workforce. The company redirected an estimated $8–10 billion in annual cash flow toward AI data center construction. Workers across the U.S., India, Canada, and Mexico received termination emails with no prior notice from HR or direct managers. Most affected senior engineers are reported to be placing within 17–30 days in mid-market roles, AI infrastructure startups, and consulting firms specializing in NetSuite or Workday implementations. Despite the sweeping cuts, Oracle reported Q3 FY26 earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on every metric just three weeks before the notices went out.

Intuit to Cut 17% of Global Workforce in AI Restructuring

Intuit announced it will eliminate 3,000 jobs — approximately 17% of its 18,200-person global workforce — with affected employees officially exiting on July 31. CEO Sasan Goodarzi cited a need to reduce complexity to accelerate AI product development across TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp, though he separately told CNBC the cuts were not AI-driven. Despite the denial, Intuit simultaneously announced multi-year AI partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI. U.S.-based employees receive 16 weeks of base pay in severance, plus two additional weeks per year of tenure. The restructuring is expected to cost approximately $320 million and marks Intuit’s second major workforce reduction in under two years, following 1,800 cuts in July 2024.

Wix Cuts 1,000 Jobs — Largest Layoff in Company History

Israeli web platform company Wix is eliminating approximately 1,000 positions — 20% of its 5,277-person workforce — in the largest layoff in its history. CEO Avishai Abrahami cited two converging pressures: a strengthening Israeli shekel making its Israel-based majority workforce increasingly expensive in dollar terms, and a structural need to rebuild for the AI era. The announcement followed a 27% stock decline after first-quarter revenue of $541 million missed Wall Street expectations, despite 14% year-over-year growth. Wix has shed more than 50% of its market value since January 2026, reducing its market capitalisation to approximately $2 billion — down from a $20 billion peak in 2021.

SHRM Annual 2026: 25,000 HR Leaders Converge in Orlando on AI and Workforce

The SHRM Annual Conference returns to Orlando June 16–19, with more than 25,000 human resources professionals expected across 375 expert-led sessions and 650 exhibitors. This year’s agenda is shaped decisively by artificial intelligence, with dedicated content tracks on AI bias mitigation, ROI frameworks for AI tools, skills-based hiring, and integrating AI agents into recruiting workflows. A survey of CHROs finds 92% anticipate greater AI integration in workforce operations over the next 12 months, while 57% say reducing bias in AI hiring tools has grown significantly in importance. The conference offers 28-plus SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP professional development credits, making it the premier HR recertification event of 2026.

AI Skills Now Command a 56% Wage Premium — and They’re the Hardest to Hire For

Workers with verified AI skills now command a 56% wage premium over comparable peers, according to PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, which analyzed nearly one billion job advertisements — more than double the 25% premium recorded the prior year. ManpowerGroup’s survey of 39,063 global employers found AI skills are now the single hardest category to hire for, surpassing all other engineering and IT disciplines for the first time. Levels.fyi data places the median ML/AI software engineer total compensation at $244,500 nationally, while frontier-lab engineers at firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI are clearing $600,000–$795,000 in median total comp, with senior AI specialists commanding base salaries of $200,000–$312,000.

Eightfold AI Faces Landmark FCRA Lawsuit Over Secret Applicant Scoring

A class action filed in January 2026 against AI recruiting platform Eightfold is reshaping how the HR technology industry thinks about algorithmic screening. Plaintiffs allege Eightfold scraped data on more than one billion workers, generated secret AI “Match Scores” on a zero-to-five scale, and filtered out low-ranked candidates before any human reviewer saw their applications — all without the disclosures required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The platform allegedly drew on social media profiles, location data, and internet activity beyond what candidates voluntarily submitted. Eightfold denies the allegations. Legal experts say the case could redefine whether AI-based screening tools constitute consumer reporting agencies under federal law.

LinkedIn Report: 93% of Recruiters Are Expanding AI Use in 2026

LinkedIn’s 2026 Talent Report reveals that 93% of recruiters plan to increase their use of artificial intelligence this year, with 59% reporting that AI has already helped them identify candidates they would not otherwise have found. Two-thirds of talent acquisition professionals plan to use AI for pre-screening interviews, while 75% cite skills-based hiring — evaluating candidates on demonstrated capabilities rather than degrees — as their top strategic priority. The report also found that more than half (52%) of professionals globally are actively seeking a new role in 2026, while applications per open U.S. job have doubled since spring 2022, significantly increasing the administrative burden on already-lean recruiting teams.

Gem Expands AI Sourcing to 800M+ Profiles, Named Workday Innovation Partner

Recruiting intelligence platform Gem has expanded its AI Sourcing Agent to more than 800 million candidate profiles — up from 650 million earlier this year — and has been designated an official Workday Innovation Partner, deepening integration for enterprise talent acquisition teams already using Workday’s applicant tracking system. The expansion gives corporate recruiting teams access to one of the broadest global talent databases available in the ATS market. The announcement arrives as recruiting operations face unprecedented pressure: teams are managing 411% more annual applications than in 2022, driven largely by AI-assisted mass-applying, while average recruiting team headcount has declined by 55% over the same period.

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