Layoffs

Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week as layoffs remained historically low. Applications for US jobless aid ticked down to 2,15,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Microsoft announced layoffs affecting 4,800 employees, offering severance packages up to 39 weeks' pay. Compensation varies by employee level, with options for continued stock vesting and health insurance. The cuts aim to streamline costs amid significant AI investments.

Microsoft aims for growth by 2027 amid poor performance in 2026, losing 19% of its stock value. The company is cutting 4,800 jobs, including notable Xbox VP Kevin LaChapelle.

Companies like Cloudflare, Cisco, and LinkedIn are also reducing staff, driven by AI and automation's growing influence on operations.

Oracle has laid off around 500 employees in Romania as part of a global restructuring strategy focusing on cloud and AI. This marks the second round of job cuts in Romania, following a previous reduction of 400 positions last year. Details here.

Meta is facing internal turbulence after a massive restructuring tied to its artificial intelligence push. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that the company made mistakes during its AI overhaul, which saw around 8,000 layoffs and thousands of employees reassigned to new roles. In a candid internal admission, CTO Andrew Bosworth described the rollout as “atrocious,” citing poor communication, lack of clarity, and disruption across teams. Reports from Reuters and Wired suggest employee morale took a hit as rapid strategic shifts left many feeling uncertain about their roles.

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Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has publicly challenged corporate leaders who blame artificial intelligence for job cuts, pointing out that many of those redundancies were announced long before AI became capable enough to justify them.

Larry Ellison now trails Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and Elon Musk, according to Forbes rankings.