Layoffs.fyi has recorded 131,382 tech layoffs in 2026 so far. Recent months show a slower pace, but the tracker cannot tell us whether displaced workers are finding their way back.

Tech companies have cut 131,382 jobs across 314 companies in 2026, according to the live data feeds powering Layoffs.fyi’s tracker, retrieved October 7. That already exceeds the 122,606 layoffs recorded throughout 2025, an increase of approximately 7.2% with nearly three months remaining. More companies have also reported cuts: the current count is 12.9% above last year’s 278. For workers weighing their next move, the numbers show another year of substantial disruption. But the annual total and the recent monthly pattern tell different parts of the story, and treating them as interchangeable would obscure what has changed.

The Annual Count Keeps Growing. The Pace Has Eased.

The tracker’s monthly figures show 26,663 layoffs in June, followed by 11,000 in July, 3,555 in August and 6,947 in September. September’s increase interrupted the decline, but its total remained roughly 74% below June’s. That is an uneven pattern rather than evidence of continuous acceleration. A cumulative annual count can keep climbing while the monthly pace falls because every newly recorded cut adds to the year’s total. October remains incomplete and should not be compared with finished months. The defensible reading is that substantial losses earlier in the year have pushed 2026 above 2025, while recent months have been less severe.