Tech Layoffs Hit 1,115 a Day in 2026: What the AI Cuts Mean for Entry-Level Jobs

Tech layoffs hit an average of 1,115 job cuts per day across 2026, according to a mid-June analysis of layoffs.fyi data reported by TechTimes on June 16. Nearly double the 564-per-day pace recorded across all of 2025. The tech layoffs 2026 entry level jobs story is no longer a rumor on Reddit; it is a math problem for every college senior with a CS major. Meta scheduled 8,000 cuts for May 20, Amazon has eliminated close to 30,000 corporate roles across multiple rounds this year, and Oracle pushed through a single 30,000-person reduction. The New York Fed's latest college labor market update pegs recent-graduate unemployment at 5.7% for Q1 2026, with CS majors at 6.1% and computer engineering at 7.5%.

What the layoffs.fyi numbers actually say

TechTimes' June 16 report, drawing on layoffs.fyi data, logged 247 layoff events displacing 183,966 workers as of June 14, 2026. The 1,115-per-day figure that has since been quoted widely. Skillsyncer's own scrape of layoffs.fyi puts the June 29 total at 185,894 workers across 267 events, or roughly 1,033 per day depending on how weekends are counted. Either way, the pace is 60% to 100% faster than 2025. The largest single event this year is Oracle at 30,000, followed by rounds at Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn.

Why AI is now the reason cited on the memo

For the first time, AI is not a subtext. It is the reason on the internal Slack post. A 24/7 Wall St. analysis in May found that 56% of 2026 layoff events explicitly cite AI, automation, or machine learning, affecting more than 156,000 workers across 150 companies. Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are collectively spending $725 billion on AI capex in 2026, up 77% year over year, while trimming headcount to fund it. CNBC reported in April that combined Meta and Microsoft cuts alone crossed 20,000 and raised fears of an "AI labor crisis." The Washington Post's May 1 piece cautioned that not every cut is truly AI-driven. Some are plain austerity. But the framing has shifted for good.

Tech layoffs 2026 entry level jobs: the junior developer squeeze

The pain is heaviest at the bottom of the ladder. Handshake data cited across 2026 coverage shows entry-level software engineering postings down roughly 30% year over year, and software developer job postings overall have fallen about 35% below pre-2020 levels and 70% off their 2022 peak. Google and Meta are hiring roughly 50% fewer new grads than they did in 2021. Salesforce paused junior engineering hires for 2025 and has not fully reopened. The New York Fed data confirms the pattern: CS unemployment at 6.1% versus 3.6% for the average recent graduate is the widest gap the Fed has published in years.

Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Google: what each is doing in 2026

Meta announced 8,000 layoffs for May 20 and, per Storyboard18 and Invezz reporting, is projected to trim close to 20% of its workforce over the year while committing $21 billion to CoreWeave for AI compute. Amazon has continued rolling reductions that add up to nearly 30,000 corporate roles, per InformationWeek's tracker. Microsoft has avoided a single big announcement but has quietly cut across gaming, sales, and middle management. Google's cuts have been narrower. Mostly ads, hardware, and people operations. But its new-grad SWE intake remains at roughly half of 2021 levels.

What entry-level candidates should do between now and fall recruiting

Career services offices are telling seniors three things. First, apply broader: Fortune 500 non-tech companies (banks, insurers, retailers, healthcare systems) are still hiring junior developers, often at pay within 15% of Big Tech. Second, get AI-native: employers surveyed by IEEE Spectrum and Joberty in 2026 now expect entry-level candidates to prompt, review, and integrate AI-generated code, not hand-write boilerplate. Third, target the 275,000 open AI-adjacent roles that 24/7 Wall St. flagged in May. Infrastructure, applied ML, evals, data pipelines. Apply to fall 2026 new-grad rec by July 15, when most Big Tech and finance pipelines close their first waves.

Key Takeaways

• Tech layoffs are averaging 1,115 per day in 2026, per TechTimes' June 16 analysis of layoffs.fyi data. Nearly double the 2025 pace.
• Layoffs.fyi shows 185,894 workers impacted through June 29, 2026, across 267 events.
• 56% of 2026 layoff announcements cite AI, automation, or ML as a driver.
• CS new-grad unemployment sits at 6.1% (NY Fed, Q1 2026) versus 3.6% for all recent graduates.
• Entry-level SWE postings are down roughly 30% year over year; Google and Meta are hiring about 50% fewer new grads than in 2021.

What's Next

Watch three dates. Meta's next reduction wave is expected before its Q3 earnings call in late July. Amazon typically confirms its second-half restructuring in August. The New York Fed will refresh its recent-graduate labor data in September. The first read on how the class of 2026 landed. For live totals, layoffs.fyi/2026-layoffs updates weekly; for open new-grad SWE roles, the jobright-ai and speedyapply GitHub repos refresh daily.