Imagine joining a company with high hopes, only to find three months later that your role is redundant. This was the reality for thousands of tech workers in the summer of 2025. While headlines often blame a bad economy, the cuts this past quarter tell a different, more permanent story.
Data from Layoffs.fyi shows that while Q3 saw 26,781 reported layoffs, down from 36,728 in Q2. On the surface, this looked like an improvement from the jobs lost in Q2. But a closer look reveals a more calculated strategy. Across multiple sectors, companies explicitly tied layoffs to replacing human labour with artificial intelligence. As Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff stated plainly, “I need less heads” because AI agents now handle the work.
The Early Signals: Fintech and SaaS Set the Tone
The quarter began with a series of targeted cuts in fintech and SaaS. Clear (formerly Cleartax), one of India’s leading financial compliance startups, laid off 20–25% of its staff, about 145 employees, on August 1. Many of those affected had been hired only months earlier. Publicly, the company called it “strategic organisational restructuring,” yet employees described it as shocking, especially during India’s peak tax season.
Despite posting a 93% rise in FY24 operating revenue and a 59% drop in losses, the company was trimming human roles in favour of AI-driven efficiency. This early move signalled a shift: layoffs were no longer reactive cost-cutting measures; they were deliberate reallocations towards automation.
By mid-quarter, the wave of layoffs extended beyond India. Jerusalem-based Lightricks, known for its visual content tools, cut 15% of its staff, reallocating resources toward AI development. Meanwhile, UK HR platform Personio shed 165 employees, 10% of its workforce, as it retreated from the U.S. market.