Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Saturday, August 8, 2026
2026 Tech Layoffs Surpass All of 2025 as Zillow, Etsy, and TikTok Cut Hundreds in August
Tech companies have laid off 125,759 workers through August 6 — surpassing the full-year 2025 total of 122,606 with four months still remaining, according to Layoffs.fyi data cited by Fast Company. The latest cluster includes Zillow, which eliminated more than 500 employees (7 percent of its workforce); Etsy, which cut 220 workers (12 percent), primarily in product and engineering; TikTok, which laid off 250 people and closed its Nashville content-moderation office; and Google, which filed a WARN notice covering 52 Washington-state employees. Executives at Zillow and Etsy specifically told reporters the cuts were not driven by artificial intelligence adoption.
Sources: Fast Company
US Payrolls Unexpectedly Fell 23,000 in July as Wage Growth Hit a Five-Year Low
Nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000 in July — the first monthly decline in months — as the Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered a sharper-than-expected signal about labor market softening. Economists had forecast modest gains. Hiring for May and June was also revised lower by a combined 103,000. Average hourly earnings rose 3.2 percent over the past twelve months, the slowest pace since May 2021. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent as labor force participation declined. Employment contracted in retail trade and local government education, while health care continued to grow. Bloomberg and CNBC both reported the data amplifies concerns about broader economic momentum.
Tech Sector Added 3,700 Jobs in July Even as Overall Tech Occupation Employment Dipped
Employer demand for technology talent held steady in July despite broader economic softness, according to a CompTIA analysis published August 7. The technology sector added approximately 3,700 jobs during the month, with gains in cloud infrastructure, data processing and hosting, information services, and semiconductor manufacturing. Active employer job postings for technology roles nationally reached nearly 603,000, including close to 14,000 specifically seeking artificial intelligence or machine learning expertise. The tech sector unemployment rate held at 2.8 percent, unchanged from June. CompTIA noted that employer demand remains strong even as broader payroll data showed unexpected weakness.
Sources: CompTIA / PR Newswire
AI Skills Now Listed in 79 Percent of Tech Job Postings as Agentic AI Requirements Surge
Artificial intelligence skill requirements now appear in 79 percent of US tech job postings, up from 75 percent in June and 144 percent higher than July 2025, according to Dice’s August 2026 tech jobs report. Overall tech posting volume declined 10 percent month-over-month in July — the first pullback after months of expansion — though year-over-year totals remain up 10 percent. Fastest-growing skills include Organizational Change Management (+42 percent month-over-month), Responsible AI, and Agentic AI (each up more than 200 percent year-over-year). The insurance sector led all industries, with tech postings rising 66 percent in July.
Tech Occupation Employment Fell by 26,000 in July Across Industries, Even as Sector Hiring Gained
July’s tech labor data revealed a notable split: tech occupation employment — engineers, developers, and data professionals working across all industries — fell by 26,000 workers, even as tech sector companies themselves added roughly 3,700 positions, according to CompTIA’s analysis of BLS data released August 7. The tech occupation unemployment rate edged down to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent in June even as overall occupation employment declined, a combination CompTIA analysts flagged as a sign of a shifting workforce rather than broad recovery. Nearly 603,000 tech job openings remained active nationally.
Sources: CompTIA / PR Newswire
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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