Monday.com, the Tel Aviv‑based work management software company known for its colorful, customizable project‑tracking boards, said this week it will cut roughly 20% of its employees. In an SEC filing the company disclosed that the reduction affects just over 600 people and is part of a “restructuring plan” connected to its ongoing transformation of product, marketing, and go‑to‑market strategy to support “a leaner, more focused operating model” as it continues to invest in an “AI‑driven growth strategy.”
Co‑founder Eran Zinman wrote in a LinkedIn memo to employees that the decision "was not made to reduce costs or replace people with AI," framing it as an organizational adjustment to the AI‑first vision Monday.com outlined roughly a year ago when it rebranded around a platform‑wide AI push.
Financial impact and outlook
Monday.com expects net restructuring charges of $45 million to $55 million related to the cuts. Despite the reductions, the company still projects up to 20% year‑over‑year revenue growth for 2026.
Context: broader U.S. tech labour shifts tied to AI
The Financial Times has analysed that U.S. technology companies have eliminated nearly 140,000 jobs since the start of this year. Amazon, Oracle, Meta and Microsoft alone account for almost 50,000 of those cuts as they invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI data‑centre buildouts. The FT also found that companies which cite AI as a factor in layoffs have underperformed the Nasdaq by almost 10% in the 30 trading days after their announcements, suggesting investors do not always accept firms’ explanations at face value.
At the same time, the picture is mixed: AI‑focused firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI are hiring rapidly and absorbing some of the talent leaving other companies. Within some organizations that have made cuts, headcount is being shifted rather than erased entirely — for example, Meta moved roughly 7,000 employees into new AI‑focused roles even as it laid off about 8,000, and IBM says it is tripling entry‑level hiring for AI and hybrid‑cloud roles while implementing cuts elsewhere.
Reverse‑chronological snapshot of major AI‑linked layoffs this year
Below is a running, reverse chronological list of larger companies that announced significant layoffs this year and cited AI as a stated factor:
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Microsoft — July 9, 2026: cut about 4,800 roles (2.1% of global workforce), primarily in its Xbox unit. Microsoft said the eliminations were "not being replaced by AI" but acknowledged AI is changing how work is done.
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Oracle — June 22, 2026: disclosed a reduction of 21,000 employees over the prior 12 months (13% decline), noting adoption and deployment of AI technologies have resulted, and may continue to result, in workforce reductions.
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GitLab — June 3, 2026: laid off roughly 350 people (about 14%) to fund AI infrastructure investment and handle increased traffic from AI workflows; reported Q1 revenue of $264 million (+23% year‑over‑year) and expects $30–35 million in restructuring costs.
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Google (Alphabet) — through May 2026: quietly cut staff across its Cloud division even as Cloud revenue grew 63% to exceed $20 billion; reduced manager counts by about 35% over the past year.
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Intuit — May 20, 2026: announced plans to eliminate roughly 3,000 jobs (~17%) to reduce complexity and reallocate resources toward AI.
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Meta — May 20–21, 2026: laid off about 8,000 employees (~10%) while moving roughly 7,000 into new AI‑focused roles.
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Cisco — May 14, 2026: cutting nearly 4,000 jobs (~5%), citing realignment of resources around silicon, optics, security and AI.
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Cloudflare — May 7–8, 2026: cut about 1,100 people (20%) while reporting quarterly revenue of $639.8 million (+34% year‑over‑year), its strongest quarter to date.
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General Motors — May 12, 2026: eliminated 500–600 jobs, largely IT roles; a source said AI played a role but was not the only reason.
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Coinbase — May 5, 2026: cut roughly 700 employees (14%) as part of a restructuring aimed at market volatility and increasing AI efficiency.
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PayPal — May 5, 2026: announced plans to cut around 20% of its workforce over the next two to three years (north of 4,500 jobs) as part of an AI adoption and simplification strategy.
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Snap — April 16, 2026: reduced about 16% of its global workforce (~1,000 full‑time employees), citing rapid AI advances that enabled teams to reduce repetitive work and increase velocity.
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IBM — rolling through 2026: various rounds of cuts have led to estimates of 3,000–9,000 U.S. roles eliminated, contributing to a cumulative total above 15,000 positions since September 2024; IBM also plans to increase entry‑level hiring for AI and hybrid‑cloud roles.
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Atlassian — March 11, 2026: cut about 1,600 jobs (10%) to rebalance toward AI and enterprise sales.
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Dell — January 30, 2026 (disclosed in March): the company’s headcount fell about 10% in fiscal 2026 (~11,000 jobs) as it positioned for AI‑optimized server demand.
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Oracle — March 5–31, 2026: earlier notices to employees presaged the broader cuts that Oracle later disclosed totaled 21,000 over 12 months.
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Block — February 26–27, 2026: cut about 4,000 jobs, nearly half its workforce.
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Salesforce — February 10, 2026: fewer than 1,000 layoffs across marketing, product, data analytics and Agentforce AI; the company said AI efficiencies reduced the need to backfill certain support engineer roles.
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Amazon — January 28, 2026: cut 16,000 corporate jobs, following 14,000 cuts in October 2025, representing roughly a 9% reduction in corporate roles over three months.
Implications
Monday.com’s move reflects a broader dynamic in the tech industry: heavy investment in AI is coinciding with significant workforce reshaping. Some firms and sectors are expanding hiring around AI capabilities, while others are reducing or redeploying roles as automation and new workflows change the mix of skills and positions companies need. Market reactions to these announcements show investors may scrutinize claims that layoffs are primarily AI‑driven rather than cost‑cutting measures.
