Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Monday, July 27, 2026
Monday.com Cuts 20 Percent of Workforce in AI-Driven Restructuring
Monday.com disclosed a reduction of more than 600 employees — approximately 20 percent of its global workforce — citing a strategic shift to an AI-first operating model. The company filed with the SEC on July 23, 2026, and expects net restructuring charges of $45 million to $55 million. Co-founder and co-CEO Eran Zinman stated the move “was not made to reduce costs or replace people with AI,” framing it instead as a realignment around autonomous product development. Despite the cuts, Monday.com maintained its revenue growth forecast of up to 20 percent year over year.
Sources: TechCrunch
Alphabet Added Nearly 12,000 Workers in the Past Year Despite AI Wave
Alphabet grew its global headcount by 11,830 employees over the twelve months ending June 2026, bringing total staff to 198,933, according to earnings disclosures reviewed by Business Insider. The company added more than 4,000 workers in the second quarter of 2026 alone, as quarterly revenue climbed 24 percent year over year to $119.8 billion. Alphabet simultaneously raised its annual capital expenditure guidance to between $195 billion and $205 billion to fund AI infrastructure buildout. Separately, roughly 4,500 Alphabet employees signed an internal petition seeking formal protections against future workforce reductions.
Sources: Business Insider via Yahoo Finance
Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Amazon Over Alleged Executive Poaching
Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit against Amazon on July 25, 2026, alleging interference with contractual relations, breach of contract, and unfair competition. The suit centers on HBO Max marketing executive Pia Barlow, who left to join Amazon MGM Studios before her contract was set to expire on October 31, 2027. According to the complaint, a second executive — believed to be Francesca Orsi — was also approached by Amazon but remained at Warner Bros. Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment. The case renews debate over the enforceability of fixed-term employment agreements under California law.
Sources: TechCrunch
Reid Hoffman-Backed Prentis Raises $100 Million, Assembles AI-Lab Veterans
Prentis, a new artificial intelligence lab co-founded by LinkedIn creator Reid Hoffman, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and researcher Ritankar Das, is in talks to raise $100 million at a $1 billion valuation, TechCrunch reported on July 24, 2026. The company has hired more than 25 researchers and engineers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba. Prentis is building computer-use AI models to automate routine office workflows, and claims its Hive-32B model outperforms GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.6. The fundraise comes as Anthropic separately acquired Seattle-based startup Vercept, which operated in the same space.
Sources: TechCrunch
Tech Companies Citing AI in Layoffs Are Underperforming the Nasdaq
American technology companies have eliminated approximately 140,000 jobs year to date in 2026, with Amazon, Oracle, Meta, and Microsoft together accounting for roughly 50,000 of those cuts, per a Financial Times analysis cited by TechCrunch on July 25. The research found that companies specifically citing artificial intelligence as a reason for workforce reductions underperformed the Nasdaq Composite by approximately 10 percent in the 30 trading days following their announcements. The pattern stands in contrast to aggressive hiring at Anthropic, OpenAI, and IBM, which has announced plans to triple its entry-level AI hiring. Meta, meanwhile, shifted 7,000 employees into AI roles while simultaneously cutting 8,000 others.
Sources: TechCrunch
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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