After a relatively slow start to the year, U.S. tech layoffs have steadily picked up in 2025.
A combination of factors likely helped drive the uptick, including the threat of tariffs, the rise of artificial intelligence, and continued economic uncertainty.
After dropping substantially last December, job cuts spiked again in February and April this year — totaling more than 38,000 in those two months combined — per the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker. February saw more than 14,000 layoffs while April surged to 23,850, with both large-cap tech companies and startups reducing staff.
In May, we saw a total of 57,422 layoffs. That compares to 95,177 in all of 2025. So far in June, at least 923 U.S. tech workers have been laid off, per Crunchbase data.
Executive coach Alisa Cohn said layoff trends this year are following closely those of last year.
“Companies are doing layoffs when they need to for financial reasons, if they pivot their company — so they’re laying off in one area while hiring in one area — and as a way to handle performance issues that have been put off,” she told Crunchbase News.
Cohn also pointed out that many startups that raised money during peak ZERP years are now scrutinizing their runways and coming up against the challenges of fundraising again.
“Those companies are definitely re-orging and laying people off,” added Cohn, who is also the author of “From Start-up to Grown-up” and has worked with companies such as Venmo, Etsy and DraftKings.
In recent months, we’ve seen a number of Big Tech and publicly traded companies, as well as startups, make deep cuts.
But interestingly, public tech companies have dominated layoff headlines as of late.
In the past few months alone, eBay laid off 220 employees, Meta let go of 100 employees, and Amazon has laid off at least 425 workers, by our count. Microsoft let go of 6,000 workers, or about 6% of its staff, in May, followed by more than 300 again this month. Google has slashed at least 200 jobs in recent months. Intel’s cuts have been among the largest among tech companies this year, with 22,000 of its workers losing their jobs in late April and an unspecified number again this month.
Those Big Tech layoffs may be setting the tone for smaller tech companies and startups.
Despite signs of a comeback year, fintech as an industry has continued to see struggles at both private and public players. Startup Bench laid off an unspecified amount of workers while nCino, which went public in 2020, let go of 7% of its workforce. Dark Matter Technologies, which makes software designed to streamline lending operations, also reportedly laid off an unspecified number of its staff.
But it appears no sector has been immune. In May, edtech company Chegg laid off 248 employees and cybersecurity outfit CrowdStrike let go of 500 employees.
As evidence of how tough it is out there, Handshake, a hiring platform for college students, recently released a report noting that the class of 2025 is graduating “into the most competitive job market in years.”
According to a spokesperson, job postings on Handshake have declined 15% over the past year, while the number of job applications per job has increased by 30%.
“This is consistent with broader trends we’re seeing in the macro data and other job platforms,” the spokesperson said.
Cohn agrees it’s a tight market.
“I’m definitely seeing companies slow down their hiring and people who are looking for jobs are looking for longer,” she told Crunchbase News.
Cohn believes the increased interest and use of artificial intelligence is part of the overall uncertainty and contributes to the trend of companies being slow to hire. And, the impact of that uncertainty is significant, in her view.
However, she doesn’t see AI taking over so many jobs that it’s leading to more layoffs — for now at least.
“I think it’s obvious that we need to keep an eye on that, and AI may contribute directly to job loss and layoffs in the months and years ahead,” Cohn said.
Handshake believes it’s too early to tell the impact of AI on the job market.
“What we have noticed is an increase in employers seeking talent with AI knowledge and skills,” the spokesperson said, noting that mentions of gen AI tools in job descriptions have increased more than 4x in the past two years.
Methodology
Layoffs figures are from The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker, where we record reported job cuts at U.S. tech employers. The tracker includes layoffs conducted by U.S.-based companies or those with a strong U.S. presence — both privately and publicly traded — and is updated at least bi-weekly. Layoff and workforce figures are best estimates based on reporting. Actual layoff figures are likely much higher than reported as many companies do not disclose the number of jobs cut when announcing layoffs. For more about our methodology for tracking layoffs, refer to the tracker’s methodology section.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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