Over 134,000 tech workers have been fired in 2026 alone, a pace of destruction that makes the 2008 financial crisis layoffs look conservative by comparison.
Companies like Oracle and Meta are leading a scorched-earth restructuring, treating human capital as a disposable line item to offset the massive capital expenditures required for AI infrastructure.
This is the ultimate ‘debt-trap’ cycle: firms are borrowing or liquidating their most valuable assets their people to buy silicon and compute power for projects that have yet to show a profitable return.
Not surprised at all.
When you build a technology engineered to take everyone’s jobs what else would you expect? https://t.co/zlhBzoumz6
— QE Infinity (@StealthQE4) May 27, 2026
The industry is effectively “AI-washing” its balance sheets, using the promise of future automation to trigger immediate stock buybacks and appease shareholders at the expense of long-term operational stability.
History is repeating the 2000 Dot-com bust, where companies gutted their infrastructure and institutional knowledge in a desperate scramble for the “next big thing,” only to find themselves hollowed out when the bubble inevitably corrected.
Newsmax: Why are college kids booing AI during graduation ceremonies?
Me: Because they did everything society told them to do — took on debt, got the degree, worked their asses off — and now they’re graduating into a brutal job market while billionaires openly brag about… pic.twitter.com/v4qSoDEW5v
— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) May 26, 2026