A source familiar with the matter said the job cuts were carried out on Wednesday and affected units including Reality Labs, social media teams and recruiting.

The scale is smaller than earlier plans, but it follows internal discussions about deeper reductions.

Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that Meta had considered larger layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce. Those plans have not been fully carried out, but they are still part of longer-term restructuring discuss.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said, “Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals. Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”

The company employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest annual filing.

With these changes tied to high costs, Meta is increasing spending on artificial intelligence (AI), with total expenses projected at between $162 billion and $169 billion in 2026.

A large share of that budget will go into data centres, computing infrastructure and hiring specialised talent.

At the same time, the company is cutting back in areas that no longer sit at the centre of its plans. Reality Labs, which focuses on augmented and virtual reality, has recorded heavy losses in recent years.

Reports put those losses at about $16 billion between 2023 and 2025.

Now, attention has shifted, and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has placed artificial intelligence at the core of the business, reducing the weight previously given to AR and VR projects.

The latest layoffs also touch sales, global operations and other support roles, according to earlier reports. Some affected employees, especially outside the United States, have been offered options to move into other roles or locations.

Meta is not alone in this direction. Other large technology companies have made similar decisions, cutting jobs in hardware and cloud units while increasing investment in AI.

The post Meta Lays Off Hundreds of Staff as Spending Shifts to AI appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

But the thing is, capital wasn’t just flowing. There was a concentration, with large checks, especially for artificial intelligence companies. 

About 74% of January funding went to deals of $100 million or more, and 57% went to AI-related startups alone. 

However, if you stood back and looked at markets and capital flows in early 2026, you’d see something quite different, fundamental change. 

Tech isn’t responding to an upswing in funding anymore. It’s adapting to new investor priorities, and market situations that are very different from the era of easy capital that impacted the late 2010s and early 2020s.

So what changed?

For most of the past decade, cheap money allowed tech growth, interest rates in certain economies were at historical lows, investors hungry for yield and growth poured capital into startups before they had profit, let alone profits. 

Risk was quite blurry during that era, valuations were amplified and growth at all costs was made workable, if fragile, a strategy.

Today, it doesn’t work that way anymore.

Interest rates globally are higher than they’ve been for years. Monetary policy became tougher after pandemic stimulus faded, inflation returned in many regions, and central banks moved quickly to raise rates to rein in prices. 

That made capital more expensive and investors much pickier.

Funding isn’t gone, it’s just concentrated

Despite the narrative of a “funding winter,” KPMG’s latest data shows global VC investment hit more than $138 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, ending the year with one of the strongest totals on record. 

But that masks an important trend where capital isn’t broadly distributed anymore. Investors are placing large investments on a narrow set of opportunities.

Take AI. It wasn’t just one sector among many. In 2025, AI startups drew outsized rounds, dozens of companies raised hundreds of millions, or even billion-dollar-plus investments. 

The funds aren’t trickling down to every idea with a good pitch. They’re clustering around a few big names and high-conviction focus.

That shift is unignorable. It means the cost of money isn’t just higher, the bar for attracting it is, too.

A tale of two tech markets

Investors are talking about discipline, transparency, and profitability. According to a global investor survey, 61% of investors still see technology as the top sector for capital growth over the next few years, but they want transparent disclosures about strategy and returns, especially around AI. 

In the first week of February 2026, global indexes experienced turbulence as software and tech stocks were sold off. Valuations slipped due to investor anxiety over whether heavy AI spending by big tech firms, think multibillion-dollar capex plans, will translate to profit. 

Big names like Alphabet and Microsoft have seen their stock prices fluctuate at times because markets are questioning the returns on massive AI investments outweighing near-term costs.

At the same time, alternative corners of tech are attracting fresh interest. There’s a noticeable shift toward smaller-cap and value-oriented companies as investors rotate out of speculative growth names and into sectors they deem safer or more resilient. 

Layoffs and recalibration

Again, looking at the workforce, 2025 saw a large number of layoffs in the tech industry, from startups to giants. 

Thousands of jobs were cut as companies recalibrated their cost structures and refocused priorities. Those layoffs reveal the stress on growth models that relied on scale and user acquisition over cash flow and efficiency.

For founders, this has been painful and humbling. People who raised capital on promises of growth now find investors demanding sharper unit economics and quicker paths to profit.

That’s not a backlash against innovation but a higher level of financial discipline driven by macro conditions.

Where tech still finds money

Despite all of this, there are good areas.

AI commands attention. There were more than 55 U.S. AI startups raising $100 million or more in 2025 alone, showing that deep technology with good enterprise value still attracts serious capital. 

These are not small checks but major commitments by major investors.

Even beyond AI, the VC world saw robust exit activity, mergers and acquisitions and IPOs contributed to healthy exit values as companies matured and found liquidity. 

And while data from regional ecosystems varies, many markets are resilient. In Africa, for example, funding rebounded strongly in 2025, with total capital rising and diversified instruments, including debt, playing a bigger part. 

The reality for most founders

So what does this all mean for tech founders and executives?

For one, the era of ‘raise more at any cost’ is clearly over. Investors are looking for companies that can articulate solid paths to cash flow and sustainable growth. They care about what you do with capital, not just how fast you can spend it.

Second, capital is still available, but it’s more selective. AI and related infrastructure are prime targets, but other sectors must prove strong business models to win larger commitments.

Third, the shift isn’t a simple downturn but a reset. Tech is learning to grow within macro challenges. That’s a healthier paradigm in the long term, even if it seems harsher in the short term.

Some founders feel blindsided because they raised a comfortable round only to find subsequent meetings turning into critiques of burn rates and go-to-market strategy. That is real, but it’s also a reflection of markets that now price risk differently.

Tech hasn’t lost its spark, far from it. Funding is still high, deals continue to get done, and innovation is very much alive. 

What has changed is the price of patience, clarity and discipline. Cheap money didn’t just drive ideas, it impacted expectations, which should ultimately lead to tech growth.

Now those expectations are adjusting to a world where capital is not easy money. It’s selective, expensive and demanding.

And that is important, because founders today must build fast, and build wisely.

The post When Money Stopped Being Cheap, Tech Had to Grow Up appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The layoffs hit the heart of Meta’s VR gaming. Twisted Pixel Games, Sanzaru Games and Armature Studio are being closed, bringing an end to teams behind titles linked to Deadpool, Asgard’s Wrath and the VR version of Resident Evil 4. 

Work on new features and content for the Supernatural fitness app has also been stopped, although the app itself will continue to run in its current form.

This looks like a retreat as Reality Labs has lost more than $70bn since 2021, driven by heavy spending on headsets, software and in-house studios that failed to reach a mass audience. 

The latest round of cuts affects more than 1,000 roles and removes roughly one in ten staff from the division.

Several projects that never reached the public are also being scrapped. Among them are a virtual reality Harry Potter title reportedly in development and scaled-back work at Camouflaj, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Shadow. These decisions reveal how much Meta is narrowing its focus, away from the VR game studios, among other areas.

VR gaming, once described as an important pillar of the metaverse, is no longer at the centre of the plan. The company is redirecting money and talent towards artificial intelligence and augmented reality hardware, with particular emphasis on its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. 

Mark Zuckerberg has described these devices as a more realistic path to growth than fully immersive virtual worlds.

The transition is also changing how Meta courts developers. Instead of funding expensive, VR-only titles, the company is encouraging creators from platforms such as Roblox to build lighter, mobile-friendly experiences for Horizon Worlds. 

It is a move away from grand, hardware-heavy ideas towards products that can scale faster and cost less.

The metaverse vision is not gone, but it is being changed to be cheaper, and far less dependent on blockbuster virtual reality games.

The post Meta Shuts VR Game Studios After $70bn Losses appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The decision comes less than a year after the company removed a further 1,000 to 2,000 positions as part of an earlier cost-cutting programme.

Shares dropped 5.5% in extended trading shortly after the update, despite the firm reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $14.64 billion, slightly ahead of market expectations.

Chief executive Enrique Lores confirmed that teams working across product development, internal operations and customer support will be affected. During a media briefing, he said: “We expect this initiative will create $1 billion in gross run rate savings over three years.”

The company expects adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2026 to sit between $2.90 and $3.20, below the consensus forecast of $3.33. The outlook for the first quarter is also muted, with guidance of 73 to 81 cents per share.

HP is seeing high interest in advanced PCs, which accounted for more than 30% of its shipments in the fourth quarter ending 31 October. Even so, the business is preparing for higher component costs. 

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have warned that increasing prices for dynamic random access memory and NAND chips are likely to squeeze margins for major computer makers, including Dell and Acer.

Lores said the financial impact would be felt from the second half of fiscal 2026, though current inventory levels should shield the business in the short term.

He added: “We are taking a prudent approach to our guide for the second half, while at the same time implementing aggressive actions like qualifying lower cost suppliers, reducing memory configurations and taking price actions.”

Across the technology sector, companies are cutting roles while reallocating resources into new product strategies.

The post HP to Cut Up to 6,000 Jobs as It Restructures and Warns of Profit Pressure appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The company confirmed plans to reduce headcount to 75,000, down from over 96,000, via attrition and targeted layoffs, many of which have already been executed.

This downsizing is just one piece of an overhaul led by newly appointed CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who stepped in earlier this year to confront years of strategic missteps and financial underperformance. 

Despite a short-term bump in revenue, Intel expects to post a larger-than-anticipated third-quarter loss of 24 cents per share, well above the 18-cent loss forecast by Wall Street analysts. Shares tumbled nearly 6% in Frankfurt following the announcement.

Tan, who is pressing for a more cost-conscious and focused Intel, made his intentions clear in a memo to employees: “There are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense. We will build what our customers need, when they need it, and earn their trust through consistent execution.”

That message is a big difference from the company’s previous approach under former CEO Pat Gelsinger, who championed aggressive expansion plans and heavy investment in next-generation manufacturing processes like 18A and the upcoming 14A node.

Tan, however, appears sceptical of that strategy’s commercial viability, particularly when it comes to selling these technologies to external customers. Reuters recently reported that Intel may abandon plans to offer 18A tech to outside firms altogether.

In what he describes as a “disciplined approach,” Tan is halting construction of new chip plants in Poland and Germany, slowing down development in Ohio, and consolidating packaging operations from Costa Rica to more established hubs in Vietnam and Malaysia.

“I do not subscribe to the belief that if you build it, they will come,” he said in a call with analysts, adding that he will personally approve all major chip designs going forward.

Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner told Reuters the company has taken a “surgical” approach to job cuts, removing about half of Intel’s management layers in the process. The aggressive cost-cutting contributed to restructuring expenses of $1.9 billion in the second quarter alone.

Despite the grim forward-looking forecast, there were signs of short-term improvement. Intel’s second-quarter revenue held flat at $12.9 billion, breaking a year-long streak of declining sales and surpassing analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. 

Still, adjusted earnings showed a loss of 10 cents per share, in stark contrast to estimates of a 1 cent gain. The unadjusted figure was worse: a 67-cent-per-share loss.

Intel’s competitiveness has eroded significantly over the past decade. While Nvidia has surged to the top in the high-growth AI chip segment, and AMD continues to nibble away at its market share in both consumer and server chips, Intel has struggled to deliver products on time and budget. 

Its push into the chip foundry business—intended to rival industry leader TSMC—has largely faltered.

“They may have overspent on 18A … but I think this is the painted picture of a new fiscally disciplined base that they’re going to go from here. I think that’s the right approach,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies.

The global economic backdrop hasn’t helped. Although semiconductors have been spared from sweeping tariffs, customers remain cautious due to macroeconomic challenges, usually pulling forward orders or delaying long-term commitments.

The post Intel to Cut 22% of Workforce as Deeper-than-Expected Loss Forecast Triggers Restructuring appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Every industry was impacted in some way, but Big Tech, in particular, caught the global limelight after hiring en masse — responding to the public’s new reliance on technology when working from home — and subsequently laying off excess workers in huge swathes when the bubble burst.

But the world of tech extends far beyond U.S.-based giants like Amazon, Meta and Apple.

This got us thinking: from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 to 2024, which tech companies around the world have been responsible for the biggest layoff events in terms of the number of employees who lost their jobs?

Using a database that tracks layoffs in tech, BusinessFinancing.co.uk went to find out.

Key Findings

• Google’s January 2023 layoff of 12,000 employees was the biggest in tech since
• When considering the number of employees laid off, six of the biggest layoff events in tech since 2020 were made by American companies.
• Swedish company Ericsson saw the biggest layoff event of any European tech company when it laid off 8,500 employees in February 2023.
• In the UK, Getir made the biggest layoff in August 2023 when it laid off 2,500 workers.

10 Biggest African Tech Company Layoffs Since 2020

The pandemic, coupled with a more cautious economic climate, triggered a wave of layoffs across the tech sector around the world.

In Africa, businesses have faced substantial layoffs since 2020, with Nigerian eCommerce platforms like Jumia and Alerzo, together, laying off up to 1,300 employees, and a large wave of Nigerian startups laying off staff as well.

Biggest Tech Layoffs in South America:

Biggest Tech Layoffs in Europe:

Biggest Tech Layoffs in the Rest of Asia and Oceania:

Biggest Tech Layoffs in Each Country:

The post Biggest Tech Layoffs in Each Country Since 2020 – New Study reveals appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This reduction is part of the company’s mission to optimise its operations and enhance growth, according to reports from Bloomberg.

A Salesforce spokesperson commented on the layoffs, stating the importance of continually assessing the company’s structure to best serve customers and support growth areas. 

“Like any healthy business, we continuously evaluate our organisational structure to ensure we are positioned to serve our customers effectively and drive growth. In some instances, this leads to roles being eliminated,” the spokesperson stated.

The company did not disclose specific details about which departments or regions were most affected.

This reduction follows previous cuts earlier this year when Salesforce laid off 700 employees in January, about 1% of its workforce. 

The layoffs aligned with a larger restructuring that also saw the company eliminate 8,000 positions, or roughly 10% of its global workforce, at the beginning of 2023. 

These cuts were attributed to a slowdown in customer spending and a pivot to focus on key growth areas, particularly around Salesforce’s Data Cloud product.

Salesforce’s Chief Operating Officer, Brian Millham, spoke on the company’s continuous works to ensure efficiency and maximise productivity during a June investor conference. 

“Are we getting the most from everybody in the business? If we’re not, we’re going to have to make reshaping decisions,” Millham said.

The trend of job cuts within Salesforce mirrors a global movement across the tech industry. In 2024, numerous tech companies have announced layoffs as they strive to control costs following years of rapid growth. According to Layoffs.fyi, over 100,000 tech workers have been laid off this year alone.

The post Salesforce Cuts 300 Jobs in Ongoing Efficiency Drive appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The constant stream of layoffs has been going on for years, but recent reports show it’s beginning to hit home more strongly than ever before. What exactly do these layoffs mean for the future of the tech industry? In what ways can you prepare yourself for this change if it affects your job or career path in any way?

Microsoft is reportedly cutting another 11,000 jobs

This is the first round of layoffs for Microsoft this year and the third since 2022. The company has been cutting jobs for some time now, with quite a number of employees affected.

Amazon to lay off 18,000 staff

Earlier, Amazon disclosed letting go of 18,000 persons from its workforce. This would be the biggest layoff in company history and would affect thousands of employees.

The company’s stock price has fallen about 15 percent since October 2018–a drop that has been attributed in part to concerns about a slowdown in growth at Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is a major profit center for the e-commerce giant and accounts for 10 percent of its revenue annually. The cloud services unit saw revenue grow 38 percent year over year during Q4 2018 but missed analyst expectations by $1 billion due to higher than expected spending on data centers and other infrastructure projects related to its own products such as Alexa voice assistant devices.

Salesforce also announced cutting around 7,000 jobs

Salesforce announced in the first week of January laying off 7,000 jobs as it employed too many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it will eliminate about 10% of its workforce and close some offices as part of a restructuring plan aimed at helping Salesforce accelerate growth and increase investment in emerging technologies. 

Not limited to the above, there’s been more layoffs.

Tech wages are rising and competition for talent is more fierce

Tech companies are competing for talent, and they’re paying more money than ever before. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for software developers was $100k in 2017–that’s a lot of money! And because there’s such a shortage of tech talent right now (a statistic I’m sure you’ve heard before), this is an ideal time for anyone looking for work in the industry.

It’s still a job seekers market in tech

Tech companies are still hiring, but they are being more selective about who they bring on board. They want people with specific skills that can help them grow their business, and they’re willing to pay high salaries for those employees.

If you have the right skillset and experience, your chances of landing a job with a top-tier company are good–and even if you don’t get hired on as an employee, there is always freelance work available through sites like Upwork or Freelancer (or even LinkedIn).

This is the start of a long term trend as we see more automation and less need for humans

The future of the tech industry is bright, but not for humans. More automation will mean less need for human workers.

This means that there will be fewer tech jobs available as time goes on, and those jobs that do exist may require less experience than they used to because machines are doing more of the work now than ever before.

Conclusion

The next few years will be interesting to watch, as we see how Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants respond to these layoffs. If they continue their current trend of cutting jobs, it could have a large impact on the industry’s future. It’s possible that companies will start automation first before making any major changes to human workers – but if this is the case then there is more potential for job losses than those outlined above.

The post What Does the Continuous Layoffs hold for the Tech Industry in 2023, Beyond appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.