As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in workplaces, its impact on the tech workforce is becoming harder to ignore. Companies have cut thousands of jobs this year, with many employers citing AI as a factor in their restructuring. Layoffs across the broader tech industry had reached more than 139,700 as of June 8, with AI cited as a factor in more than half of those job cuts, according to an industry analysis.
At the same time, Big Tech’s AI spending is expected to reach $700 billion as companies including Oracle, Apple, Amazon and Google pour money into massive data center and chip factory projects. And several of those firms have a presence in the Austin metro area.
Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Inc. has not announced any formal layoffs in recent years. But the Round Rock-based tech powerhouse has had three straight years of job cuts, reducing its global workforce by about 36,000 employees, or more than 27% since 2023, according to company filings. The company reduced its global headcount by 10,000 last year, according to a March public filing.
Oracle
Austin-based Oracle Corp. has slashed the most jobs in 2026, with job cuts totaling at least 25,200 workers globally. Amid heavy debt-funded spending on AI infrastructure, the software and cloud services company notified affected employees in late March via email that they would lose their jobs effective immediately. The company employed about 162,000 full-time workers globally before the job cuts, with Opportunity Austin's data showing the company employed about 4,200 people at its headquarters in 2024. While the company declined to specify how many jobs were cut locally, several employees flocked to social media to say they had been laid off and speculated the local tally could be in the hundreds.
Tesla
Like Dell, Tesla Inc. hasn't announced official layoffs at its headquarters near Austin. But employment at Elon Musk's electric automaker fell 22% last year in Austin as the company saw a significant drop in sales. According to public filings, the company finished 2025 with 16,506 workers in the Austin area, down from 21,191 at the end of 2024. The company saw a slump in sales as the automaker has shifted focus toward other ventures, including robotaxis and humanoid robots.
Cisco
Cisco Systems Inc. has cut about 4,000 employees this year as part of a major restructuring plan. The 5% global reduction came as the company posted record revenue and said it plans to prioritize spending on "high-growth areas" such as AI. Cisco has had offices in Austin since 1996 and recently expanded downtown after several years near The Domain in North Austin. The company has more than 1,400 employees in Austin and more than 4,000 in Texas with a lot of those employees dedicated to AI. The company has declined to specify whether Austin employees were affected by the job cuts.
Cognizant
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has cut as many as 15,000 jobs this year as part of a new restructuring campaign. After several rumors of layoffs, the New Jersey-based tech consulting and outsourcing firm reportedly cut between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs as the company embraces AI as part of its restructuring. The majority of those job cuts appear to have impacted workers in India, but the layoffs could have stretched to offices in nearby College Station where the company has a U.S. operations and technology hub. It is still unclear whether the job cuts affected local employees.
Expedia
Expedia Inc. has cut about 260 jobs this year with almost half of those coming from the company's Austin offices near The Domain. The travel and booking company cut 100 jobs in Austin in February. The company said the layoffs were a result of "simplifying our structure and reducing organizational layers to move faster." The company last reported regional job numbers in 2024, when it cut dozens of Austin workers. At the time, Expedia said it had about 1,800 employees in the city.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corp. announced its first-ever buyouts for up to 7% of its workforce in April. While it is still unclear how many employees have taken the offer, Microsoft is expected to move forward with more job cuts this year. LinkedIn, which Microsoft bought in 2016 for $27 billion, is planning to cut about 5% of its workforce, or about 875 employees, according to reports. The layoffs are expected to affect engineering, product, marketing and business operations teams. The company has reportedly said the cuts are not tied to AI, but instead a broader organizational restructuring. Microsoft-owned Xbox is also reportedly planning layoffs this summer after cutting thousands of jobs last year, according to a recent Bloomberg report. The new layoffs are expected to be significant and are part of a broader overhaul and restructuring under the gaming division's leadership. Microsoft employed about 1,000 people in Austin as recently as 2023, but it is unclear how several rounds of layoffs have affected local numbers.
Meta
As part of Meta Platforms Inc.'s push to transform into an AI-first company, Facebook and Instagram's parent company has slashed about 10,400 total jobs this year. The company told roughly 8,000 employees in May that they would lose their jobs, with another 7,000 workers being reassigned to new AI-focused roles. At the time, the cuts amounted to about 10% of Meta's global workforce. As of 2024, Meta employed about 2,000 employees in Austin. It is unclear how the global layoffs have impacted the downtown office, however, there are reports that several in Austin did lose their jobs. More job cuts occurred before and after May, extending to the closure of several gaming studios including three in Austin. When those three studios were shuttered, about 100 Austin workers lost their jobs.
PayPal
PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to eliminate about 20% of its workforce, or about 4,760 roles, over the next two to three years.The company's new CEO said the initiative is expected to generate at least $1.5 billion in savings and will help reduce redundancies and speed up AI adoption. The company has not said which divisions or regions would be impacted by the job cuts. PayPal has had offices near The Domain for several years and recently expanded its footprint. The company has an estimated 500 workers based in Austin, according to the most recent available employment figures.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile US Inc. filed a notice in April that the company would lay off 75 workers in Austin as it prepared to end accessibility functions at its North Austin call center. The telecommunications company has cut nearly 400 jobs this year. The move came as the company said it wanted to be a more digital-first company and has said it plans to increase its use of AI.