Tech giants are cutting jobs due to AI

The global technology market is entering a new phase of deep transformation and serious change in 2026, Zamin.uz reports.

Despite the world’s largest information technology giants reporting record profits, they continue to reduce their workforce on a broad scale. The main driver of this trend is the deep integration of artificial intelligence technologies into everyday operational processes.

According to monitoring sources, over 120,000 specialists have lost their jobs in the technology sector this year alone. On Monday, Microsoft Corporation announced it is cutting its global workforce by more than two percent—approximately 4,800 positions.

While company leadership emphasized that these roles are not being directly replaced by AI, it acknowledged that new technologies are fundamentally changing work patterns and automating many routine tasks—a trend now spreading across the entire industry and influencing the structure of large corporations.

According to a report released by Oracle Corporation at the end of June, the company has parted ways with 21,000 employees over the past year. In its annual financial report, Oracle openly stated that applying artificial intelligence technologies to operational processes could lead to further workforce reductions in the future.

This situation sends an important signal even for emerging markets like Uzbekistan, indicating which skills will be in high demand in the future labor market. Google Corporation is no exception to this trend.

While the company has seen significant revenue growth in its cloud technologies division, it is simultaneously optimizing its workforce structure. Unlike other firms, Google has chosen a gradual approach to reductions, avoiding the simultaneous announcement of all figures.

Estimates suggest that around three thousand engineers have been laid off there this year. Meanwhile, Meta Corporation has reduced its workforce by 8,000 employees, though some of them have been reassigned to new projects in the artificial intelligence direction.

Cisco Corporation, despite exceeding revenue expectations, has closed 4,000 positions to redirect core resources toward cybersecurity. Organizations such as GitLab and Intuit have also significantly reduced their staff numbers to simplify operations and focus on next-generation products.

Financial analysts believe that technology companies, after unprecedented growth during the pandemic, are now streamlining their structures. This process is not just about cutting costs, but about reallocating company resources toward artificial intelligence—the key driver of future innovation.

In the future, demand in the labor market will remain only for specialists who can keep pace with new technologies.