{"text":[[{"start":11.9,"text":"US tech companies have shed nearly 140,000 jobs since the start of 2026, continuing a wave of lay-offs in the industry even as spending on AI reaches record levels."}],[{"start":23.15,"text":"The tech industry accounts for more than one-third of announced US lay-offs over the period, according to FT analysis of company filings and data from executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas."}],[{"start":35.4,"text":"Amazon, Oracle, Meta and Microsoft account for almost 50,000 of those cuts, which represents around 6 per cent of their total corporate workforce."}],[{"start":44.95,"text":"Sweeping job cuts have become the norm in Silicon Valley since the Covid-19 pandemic, when companies embarked on a hiring spree built on expectations of sustained demand for digital services. Many have continued to reduce headcount while ploughing cash into AI infrastructure."}],[{"start":62.800000000000004,"text":"The fate of tech workers contrasts with a relatively resilient wider jobs market. Although hiring has cooled since the post-pandemic boom, the US unemployment rate remains low at 4.2 per cent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":78.45,"text":"The Big Four “hyperscalers” — Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft — expect to deploy a combined $725bn of capital expenditure this year on data centre infrastructure. "}],[{"start":92.15,"text":"Oracle, meanwhile, plans to invest $70bn in similar facilities in the service of clients such as OpenAI. Rishi Jaluria, an RBC analyst, said that tech companies were cutting to make up for earlier hiring binges and free up capital for AI investment. “The money has to come from somewhere,” he said."}],[{"start":111.55000000000001,"text":"Oracle ended fiscal 2026 with 21,000 fewer employees than a year earlier following cuts in March. These came as Oracle faced mounting pressure on its balance sheet. S&P this month lowered the company’s credit rating to one notch above junk grade, citing weaker cash flow and uncertainty over AI returns."}],[{"start":130.85000000000002,"text":"Alongside their AI spending, tech groups have moved to restructure business units that they had previously bet on as growth opportunities."}],[{"start":139.3,"text":"Microsoft axed 4,800 roles earlier this month, most of them in its Xbox gaming unit, as it reset the business only three years after acquiring Activision Blizzard for $75bn."}],[{"start":153.4,"text":"“They are moving from one bet to the next,” said RBC’s Jaluria."}],[{"start":158.85,"text":"Some tech companies have attributed cuts to the productivity gains attached to AI’s capabilities. As many as 170,000 corporate job losses have been linked to the technology since May 2023, according to Challenger."}],[{"start":174.2,"text":"Block chief executive Jack Dorsey in May laid off nearly half of the company’s 10,000-strong workforce. He told employees in a memo that AI was shifting headcount requirements."}],[{"start":184.89999999999998,"text":"Yet academics have questioned that rationale, arguing that AI-related cuts are a pretext for executives rectifying past mistakes."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":193.7,"text":"“The typical attitude of tech executives has been to say that AI allows us to gain efficiency rather than admit that they overhired,” said Enrico Moretti, a professor of economics at UC Berkeley. “It’s an easy way out.”"}],[{"start":207.1,"text":"FT analysis showed that companies citing AI as a factor in job cuts underperformed the Nasdaq by almost 10 per cent in the 30 trading days that followed an announcement. This compared with a gap of roughly 4 per cent for those blaming other factors."}],[{"start":222.95,"text":"Several large tech companies have taken steps to steer away from AI as a reason for cuts, including Amazon and Microsoft, which have explicitly said the technology’s rollout did not underpin their decision to shed staff."}],[{"start":236.54999999999998,"text":"Despite the rise in tech lay-offs, AI-focused start-ups such as Anthropic and OpenAI are rapidly adding to their workforces, helping soften the impact of cuts across the wider tech industry. "}],[{"start":249.29999999999998,"text":"“Employment in AI is growing at a rapid pace,” said UC Berkeley’s Moretti. “What tech companies are trimming is everything else.”"}],[{"start":258.5,"text":"Additional reporting by Claire Jones in Washington "}],[{"start":270.65,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784934516_9318.mp3"}