Tech Layoffs Hit Highest Monthly Total in Years While Engineering Hiring Share Rises

Tech layoffs reached their highest single-month total in years during May, with AI named as the most common reason, TechCrunch reported. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas recorded the cuts while noting repeated references to AI tools replacing coding work.

SignalFire tracked careers across millions of employees at more than 80 million companies and found engineering the most resilient job function in 2025.

Total hiring at large tech companies fell 25 percent from 2019 levels, yet engineering roles declined only 11 percent. Engineers made up 55 percent of new hires in 2025 at the 12 companies SignalFire tracks as Tech Majors, up from 46 percent in 2019. The group includes Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Uber, Airbnb, Block, and Stripe.

Early-stage startups hired 7 percent more engineers in 2025 than in 2019. Asher Bantock, SignalFire’s head of research, said the rationale for layoffs often cites AI allowing one engineer to replace several others, yet hiring data shows the opposite pattern. “What we’re seeing on the ground is a little inconsistent with that,” Bantock stated.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned last year that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and raise unemployment to 20 percent within five years. Anthropic head of economics Peter McCrory said in March he had seen no material difference in unemployment rates between workers using AI for core tasks and those in less exposed roles.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in an April interview that all engineers at the company now use agentic AI and are busier than before.