Between June and October 2026 the layoffhedge.com tracker tagged 35 layoffs as AI-DRIVEN. This special edition picks out the ones at the companies that set the tone for the industry: venture-backed unicorns, former unicorns that have since listed, Big Tech and large enterprises. Together the 24 companies below account for 24,556 job cuts.
The pattern is clear. The big enterprises dominate the absolute numbers, while the unicorns and recently listed scale-ups cut much deeper as a share of their workforce. The median cut is 0.5% of staff at Big Tech and 5.0% at large enterprises, against 9.2% at private unicorns and 13.9% at former unicorns. “AI-driven” is the tracker’s label, and the companies’ own wording varies. monday.com says it is moving money into AI products rather than replacing people. HDFC Bank never announced a layoff at all and simply stopped backfilling roles that automation now covers.
| Group | Companies | Jobs cut | Median % of workforce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private unicorns | 4 | 450 | 9.2% |
| Former unicorns, now public | 4 | 1,360 | 13.9% |
| Big Tech | 2 | 500 | 0.5% |
| Large enterprises | 14 | 22,246 | 5.0% |
🦄 Private unicorns
Still-private companies valued at $1B or more.
🏨 Mews: 170 jobs (12.6% of workforce), Jul 7
The hotel-management cloud platform raised a $300 million Series D in January 2026 that valued it at $2.5 billion. It had first reached unicorn status in 2024. Cutting one in eight jobs six months after a large raise shows these restructurings are not only about running out of cash.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🏦 Starling Bank: 130 jobs (3.2% of workforce), Jul 8
The UK digital bank has been a unicorn since its 2021 Series D. A cut of this size is modest next to the bank-wide programmes at Barclays or HDFC Bank further down.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🔐 Snyk: 90 jobs (5.8% of workforce), Jun 24
The developer-security company was last priced at $7.4 billion in its December 2022 Series G. Security tooling is one of the areas where AI coding assistants are changing what customers buy.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🛡️ Pentera: 60 jobs (12.8% of workforce), Aug 17
The Israeli automated penetration-testing company became a unicorn with a $150 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation in January 2022 and raised a $60 million Series D in March 2025.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
📈 Former unicorns, now public
Venture-backed unicorns that have since listed.
🗂️ monday.com: 620 jobs (20.0% of workforce), Jul 22
About 350 of the cuts are in Israel, where more than half of its staff is based. The company calls it an AI-era restructuring and says it is moving resources into AI product development, not replacing workers with AI. Its shares are down about 50% this year.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
💳 Chime: 150 jobs (10.0% of workforce), Jul 31
The neobank cited AI-driven efficiency gains a little over a year after its June 2025 IPO. Coverage put the count between 140 and 150; the tracker uses 150, which matches 10% of about 1,500 employees.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🚗 Uber: 340 jobs (1.0% of workforce), Jun 3
A small, AI-tagged cut. Read it as an early signal rather than a turning point.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🏠 Opendoor: 250 jobs (17.9% of workforce), Jun 10
Almost one in five jobs at the home-buying platform, one of the largest shares among the listed companies here.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🍎 Big Tech
MAANG and platform giants.
🍏 Apple: 200 jobs (0.1% of workforce), Aug 21
TechCrunch reported the cuts hit the Siri and Vision Pro teams. Apple acknowledged that some roles were affected as it moves its focus away from certain initiatives.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🎵 TikTok: 300 jobs (0.8% of workforce), Jul 1
Part of an overhaul of content moderation. TechCrunch later reported a further 250 layoffs in August and the closure of the Nashville office that housed moderation staff.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🏢 Large enterprises
Established software, finance, media and retail companies.
🏦 Barclays: 5,000 jobs (5.4% of workforce), Oct 22
The largest corporate cut in this list.
🔗 Read more 🔗
Source: layoffhedge.com
💳 American Express: 3,500 jobs (4.6% of workforce), Oct 23
Payments again: it follows the Visa and Chime cuts announced in July.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🏦 HDFC Bank: 3,343 jobs (1.6% of workforce), Jul 12
There was no announced layoff here. HDFC's FY26 annual report shows headcount fell from 214,521 to 211,178 as India's largest private lender roughly quadrupled tech spending to about $1 billion and let automation absorb back-office work instead of backfilling roles.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🛒 Kroger: 3,000 jobs (0.7% of workforce), Oct 12
The largest non-tech, non-finance employer here. A small share of a very large workforce still adds up to thousands of jobs.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
💳 Visa: 2,600 jobs (7.0% of workforce), Jul 28
A memo from CEO Ryan McInerney said AI is shaping how work gets done at Visa. Technology and product teams take the biggest share of the cuts, which come after a decade in which Visa's headcount more than tripled.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🔥 Centrica: 1,300 jobs (6.5% of workforce), Jul 23
The British Gas owner is spending £600 million on an AI-focused customer-service overhaul. About 500 of the roles are contact-centre jobs, and inbound contact volumes have fallen 31% since 2023.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
☁️ Rackspace: 750 jobs (15.0% of workforce), Jun 10
Fifteen percent of the managed-cloud provider's workforce.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🧲 HubSpot: 660 jobs (7.4% of workforce), Oct 6
One of the larger AI-tagged cuts among SaaS companies in October.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
📊 FICO: 570 jobs (15.0% of workforce), Oct 6
FICO disclosed only the 15% and a $27 million severance charge. The 570 is Reuters applying that percentage to its fiscal 2025 headcount.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
📰 Thomson Reuters: 500 jobs (1.8% of workforce), Jul 13
A news and professional-information company whose products are among the most exposed to generative AI.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🏦 DNB: 400 jobs (3.4% of workforce), Oct 6
Norway's largest bank joins the wave of AI-framed cuts at banks.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
⚙️ ServiceNow: 287 jobs (1.0% of workforce), Sep 28
A company that sells AI-driven workflow automation, applying it to its own headcount.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
🔎 Elastic: 250 jobs (7.1% of workforce), Jun 24
The search and observability company's cut was logged on the same day as Snyk's, June 24.
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Source: layoffhedge.com
☁️ Salesforce: 86 jobs (0.1% of workforce), Jun 9
A token-sized cut in percentage terms, but a symbolic one from the company that has argued loudest that AI agents will take over support work.
🔗 Read more 🔗
Source: layoffhedge.com
📋 All entries
| Company | Group | Jobs cut | % of workforce | Date (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mews | Private unicorns | 170 | 12.6% | Jul 7 |
| Starling Bank | Private unicorns | 130 | 3.2% | Jul 8 |
| Snyk | Private unicorns | 90 | 5.8% | Jun 24 |
| Pentera | Private unicorns | 60 | 12.8% | Aug 17 |
| monday.com | Former unicorns, now public | 620 | 20.0% | Jul 22 |
| Chime | Former unicorns, now public | 150 | 10.0% | Jul 31 |
| Uber | Former unicorns, now public | 340 | 1.0% | Jun 3 |
| Opendoor | Former unicorns, now public | 250 | 17.9% | Jun 10 |
| Apple | Big Tech | 200 | 0.1% | Aug 21 |
| TikTok | Big Tech | 300 | 0.8% | Jul 1 |
| Barclays | Large enterprises | 5,000 | 5.4% | Oct 22 |
| American Express | Large enterprises | 3,500 | 4.6% | Oct 23 |
| HDFC Bank | Large enterprises | 3,343 | 1.6% | Jul 12 |
| Kroger | Large enterprises | 3,000 | 0.7% | Oct 12 |
| Visa | Large enterprises | 2,600 | 7.0% | Jul 28 |
| Centrica | Large enterprises | 1,300 | 6.5% | Jul 23 |
| Rackspace | Large enterprises | 750 | 15.0% | Jun 10 |
| HubSpot | Large enterprises | 660 | 7.4% | Oct 6 |
| FICO | Large enterprises | 570 | 15.0% | Oct 6 |
| Thomson Reuters | Large enterprises | 500 | 1.8% | Jul 13 |
| DNB | Large enterprises | 400 | 3.4% | Oct 6 |
| ServiceNow | Large enterprises | 287 | 1.0% | Sep 28 |
| Elastic | Large enterprises | 250 | 7.1% | Jun 24 |
| Salesforce | Large enterprises | 86 | 0.1% | Jun 9 |
Method: layoffs tagged AI-DRIVEN by the layoffhedge.com tracker from June through October 2026, with unicorn status checked against funding-round reports. Not included: the Dutch Government (public sector), media and services firms without unicorn status or enterprise scale (Southern Cross Media, Reach plc, The Telegraph, Skai, Sprout Social, Vermont Information Processing), and companies we could not verify as unicorns (Artlist, Elementor, Booksy, GoKwik).