August is only one week old, but the month has already seen layoffs at a number of high-profile tech companies.
But worse, according to data from a popular layoff-tracking website, the number of tech layoffs in 2026 through August 6 has already surpassed the total for all of calendar year 2025. Here’s what you need to know.
Zillow cuts over 500 jobs
The online real-estate and rental platform Zillow is so far the tech company to announce the largest number of job cuts in August, according to data compiled by the layoff-tracking website Layoffs.fyi.
On August 4, Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman published a blog post announcing the company would lay off “just over 500 employees.” The layoffs, according to Wacksman, “are about ensuring we have a disciplined cost structure and getting more efficient, with the right people in the right positions.”
The layoffs amount to roughly 7% of Zillow’s total workforce.
And if you were wondering whether AI adoption had a role to play in the job cuts, Zillow told GeekWire that wasn’t the case, with a company spokesperson saying the “changes are about better positioning Zillow for the path ahead, which includes having the right people in the right roles and being able to move faster.”
Wacksman announced the job cuts just ahead of the company’s Q2 2026 financial results on Wednesday.
Those results saw Zillow post Q2 revenue of $772 million, up 18% year-over-year. Yet despite the revenue gains, the company still reported a net loss of $4 million for the quarter.
Shares of Zillow Group Inc (Nasdaq: Z) fell more than 7% yesterday. The stock is down more than 49% year to date.
TikTok lays off 250 workers as it closes Nashville office
One day after Zillow announced its job cuts, the New York Times reported that social media giant TikTok was laying off 250 employees.
The layoffs affect the employees at the company’s Nashville office that primarily deals with content moderation. The Times reports that the employees received emails on Wednesday morning, abruptly informing them of the layoffs.
A TikTok spokesperson told the Times that the company “decided to close our Nashville office to streamline our operations and better align our teams for long-term growth,” without providing more detailed reasons behind the layoffs.
The layoffs of TikTok’s moderation team in Nashville came just one day after the popular celebrity blogger Perez Hilton appeared to carry out acts of self-harm during a TikTok live feed. TikTok blamed a moderator error after users complained that the content had been left up for too long.
However, it is not thought that the layoffs are related to this incident. Fast Company has reached out to TikTok for comment.
Etsy eliminates around 220 positions
Also on Wednesday, the popular online crafts marketplace Etsy announced it was laying off around 220 workers. The news was delivered to employees via a letter from CEO Kruti Patel Goyal, which Etsy later published on its blog.
According to the letter, Etsy is laying off “approximately 220” employees due to a company reorganization. The job losses will primarily affect those on the company’s Product and Engineering team.
Goyal said that despite the company’s improving financials, the layoffs were needed to help prepare for the company’s changes in 2027.
“We didn’t want to ask teams to build those plans around an organization we already knew needed to change,” Goyal said.
The CEO was also quick to point out that the layoffs were not related to AI adoption. “[These] decisions weren’t driven by AI,” Goyal said. “Ultimately, our future depends on the creativity, judgment, and expertise of our people.”
The layoffs were announced along with the company’s Q2 226 earnings.
For the quarter, revenue totaled $668.3 million, a 6.2% year-over-year improvement.
However, the company is still facing several headwinds, including increased competition from other online marketplaces and reduced customer momentum when compared to Etsy’s business during the pandemic years, CNBC notes.
Google lays off 52 workers in Washington
On August 5, Washington state’s Employment Security Department published a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) submitted by Google announcing that it plans to lay off 52 employees.
A Fast Company review of the notice shows that the layoffs will take place on October 5. They will include workers at multiple Google facilities in Washington, including those in Kirkland, Redmond, and Seattle.
The notice also states that three remote employees residing in the state are also included in the layoffs.
Jobholders affected include Software Engineer Managers, Senior Software Engineers, UX Designers, Sr Product Managers, and more.
According to the Seattle Times, Google said the cuts were a team-level reorganization and not part of a larger layoff round.
Year-to-date 2026 tech job losses now surpass 2025 totals
Unfortunately, when it comes to tech layoffs, 2026 is set to be a worse year than 2025 was.
According to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi, in all of 2025, 278 tech companies laid off 122,606 tech employees. But as of August 6, the total number of tech employees laid off in 2026 has now surpassed the 2025 total.
In 2026 through August 6, tech layoffs for the year have now reached 125,759. However, the number of tech companies laying off workers this year is still a little below the 2025 total. In 2026 so far, Layoffs.fyi says 264 tech companies have laid off workers.
Of course, a major factor in some tech layoffs in 2026 is the AI boom. As companies spend increasing sums on AI buildouts, they look for ways to cut costs elsewhere to fund their capex sprees. Unfortunately, those cuts often come at the expense of employees’ jobs.