Major Tech Companies Announce Large-Scale Layoffs Under the Pretext of AI Transition

In 2025, the tech industry is witnessing a wave of major workforce reductions announced under the rationale of "transition to AI." monday.com has joined this trend, and more than 20 leading tech companies have explicitly cited AI as a reason for their layoffs.

Behind these moves lies the rapid proliferation of generative AI tools. As companies find themselves able to automate portions of their operations, management is accelerating the review of cost structures. The judgment that AI can partially replace work formerly handled by large-scale engineering teams and internal support divisions is directly influencing personnel planning at these companies.

Company announcements are generally framed around "organizational restructuring to prioritize AI investment." In other words, they are reducing workforce displaced by AI while simultaneously continuing to invest in talent involved in AI development and implementation. While the scale and target roles vary by company, the impact is notably pronounced in areas with repetitive work, such as customer support, marketing, and software development assistance roles.

monday.com is an Israeli-based SaaS (Software as a Service) company providing project management software, and with this layoff announcement, it has joined the list of companies participating in this trend. The fact that 21 or more companies, including monday.com, have made similar announcements within 2025 demonstrates that this is not an isolated corporate decision but rather an industry-wide pattern.

Care should be taken in how we interpret the phrase "layoffs because of AI." In reality, multiple factors are at play—declining business performance, correction of over-hiring, and stakeholder communication—and there is a view that placing AI in the spotlight serves as a "rational justification" for management decisions. However, the actual fact that AI-driven efficiency improvements are changing workforce demand can be confirmed in the hiring trends and organizational designs of many companies.

What makes this trend significant is that "the impact of AI on employment" has transitioned from a future concern to a present-day reality now being factored into corporate decision-making. The spread of similar moves across tech giants and mid-sized SaaS companies, regardless of industry or company size, supports the view that AI adoption is fundamentally altering industry structures rather than being a matter of particular corporate culture or management philosophy. Going forward, tracking changes in the types of roles being eliminated and the nature of newly created positions related to AI will be critical to understanding the full picture of this structural transformation.