Tech Layoffs Spread as Netflix Cuts 1,000 and Wage Growth Hits 3%

A Week of Cuts on Top of a Weak Jobs Report

In the first half of October, a string of employers announced job cuts. Netflix, HubSpot, Amazon, Kroger, Flock Safety and Airtable were among them. The announcements came days after a federal jobs report showed hiring nearly stalling and pay growth falling to its weakest level in five years. None of these cuts would move the national numbers alone. Taken together, though, they describe a labor market that looks steady for people who still have jobs and is getting harder for everyone else.

The broad conclusion holds up across the reporting. Layoffs are not running at recession levels. White-collar and tech workers are carrying a large share of the cuts, while slow hiring and weak wage growth are hurting people across the workforce.

Netflix Leads the October Tech Cuts

Netflix's announcement drew the most attention. The company said it would cut about 6% of its workforce, roughly 1,000 jobs, with most of the losses in product, technology, legal and HR teams.8 It is Netflix's biggest round of job cuts since 2022, when it eliminated about 450 positions after losing subscribers.7 The Los Angeles Times described the cuts as likely the largest layoff in the company's history.5

The size of the cut shifted as the story developed. Early reports said Netflix planned to cut about 5% of staff. Based on its year-end 2025 headcount of roughly 16,000, that would have meant about 800 jobs.69 The final figure was higher.

Outlets also explain the cuts differently. The Los Angeles Times links them to Netflix losing its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, along with slowing growth in viewing time and stronger competition from YouTube.5 Quartz, citing the Wall Street Journal, puts more weight on slowing growth and weaker viewer engagement. It also notes that the co-CEOs told staff the company is still on track to meet its full-year earnings forecast.9 The two explanations fit together. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos admitted in late September that Netflix was not growing as fast as he wanted.8 The cuts look less like an emergency and more like a company trimming costs while its growth story weakens. Chief content officer Bela Bajaria also left after the cuts were announced.7

The Wider List: Software, Retail, Pharma and Beyond

Other companies announced cuts at the same time. HubSpot said on October 6 it would eliminate about 7% of its workforce, roughly 660 jobs. CEO Yamini Rangan stressed that the cuts were not driven by AI-related efficiencies.7 Flock Safety, the license-plate camera company facing lawsuits and privacy criticism, is reducing staff by 18%, about 270 people.7 Flock calls this a voluntary separation program rather than a layoff.7 InformationWeek, however, reported that mandatory layoffs followed after some employees had been asked to leave voluntarily.2

At Airtable, new owner Bending Spoons let go a "large portion" of the pre-acquisition team, explaining that it believes small teams ship more and better.10 Amazon cut fewer than 1,000 white-collar jobs in its Stores division across the U.S., India and the U.K.6 Founder Jeff Bezos blamed the continuing layoffs on hiring too many people during the pandemic.7 Workday is cutting about 140 Bay Area roles as part of a plan to shrink its global workforce by 2.5%.10

The cuts go well beyond tech. Kroger plans to eliminate about 3,000 corporate positions over three years. That is roughly 37% of its corporate staff and one of the largest workforce reductions in the grocer's history.6 Pfizer confirmed about 150 layoffs at a plant in Michigan, citing lower demand.6 Unions also report about 330 Pfizer job cuts in Italy.1 Outside the U.S., Telia plans to cut about 900 jobs and Greggs is closing four factories, affecting 740 jobs.1 Advertising giant Omnicom is cutting about 15,000 roles by the end of the year.1 Biotech has had its own wave: Foghorn Therapeutics cut 40% of its staff, and Caribou Biosciences halted its drug pipeline.3

The Macro Picture: Few Jobs Added, Slower Pay Gains

The September jobs report explains why these announcements matter more than they would have a year ago. Employers added just 29,000 jobs, against forecasts of 84,000. Unemployment rose to 4.2% from 4.1%.22 Revisions cut a combined 60,000 jobs from July and August. July went from a reported gain to a loss of 10,000.22 The Center for Economic and Policy Research calculates that the three-month average fell to 51,000.29

Wages are the bigger problem for workers. Average hourly earnings rose only 0.1% for the month, leaving annual growth at 3%, the lowest since May 2021.22 That is below the rate of inflation, which has risen since the war in Iran began.28 Over the most recent three months, CEPR estimates wages grew at an annualized rate of just 2.6%.29

Part of the report was stronger, and that is where the main disagreement lies. CNBC noted that the household survey showed employment rising by 406,000. Participation climbed to 61.8%, and the broader U-6 unemployment rate fell to 7.6%, its lowest since January 2025.22 The higher jobless rate mainly reflected more people entering the labor force.22 PGIM economist Robert Sockin said the market "is at worst stable," pointing out that private payrolls grew by 46,000.28 The Century Foundation's Kyle Moore took the opposite view, saying the market was grinding to a halt and leaving workers with little leverage.24

Who is right? The evidence points to the more worried reading, though for reasons that don't show up in the headline rate. CEPR found that only 10.5% of the unemployed had quit their jobs voluntarily, the lowest share since May of last year. In a market this tight, that share would normally be above 13%.29 When fewer people leave for better jobs, wage growth tends to stall, because switching jobs is how many workers get bigger raises.29 Unemployment for Black workers jumped to 7% from 6%, and for workers aged 20 to 24 it rose to 8.0% from 7.1%.29 The average unemployed worker has now been searching for nearly six months.21 Long-term unemployment has been rising for two years, which is unusual during an economic expansion.28

Sector data ties the layoff announcements to the official figures. Information services lost 10,000 jobs in September, amid concern about AI's effect on employment.22 Health care, construction and manufacturing provided most of the gains.22

Is AI Behind the Tech Cuts?

AI shows up in many of these announcements, but the numbers support only part of that story. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, employers cited AI in 120,136 planned U.S. job cuts through September, about 21% of all announced layoffs. That makes AI the most common reason given.15 Technology companies announced 155,126 U.S. cuts through August, up 52% from a year earlier.16 Tracker figures differ, but they agree that 2026 tech layoffs have already passed the total for all of 2025. One count, based on Layoffs.fyi data, put the figure at 128,536 by September 10.12

The overall layoff trend tells a different story. Total announced U.S. job cuts from January to August were down 41% from the same period last year.16 AI-linked cuts peaked in May and fell sharply by August.16 Survey data suggests AI is more likely to slow hiring than to cause layoffs. The New York Fed found that 1% of service firms using AI had laid off workers because of it, while 12% had hired fewer people.19 CEPR describes the evidence of AI-driven job losses as limited, mostly confined to sectors such as insurance and publishing.29 Analysts have also flagged "AI washing," where companies blame AI for cuts that are really driven by overhiring or cost pressure.11 HubSpot's explicit denial and Bezos's pandemic-hiring explanation both fit that pattern.7

There are also early signs that some companies are rethinking. A Guardian investigation reported that Meta scaled back plans to replace more positions with AI agents after employees spent growing amounts of time fixing technical and security problems.15

What It Means for Workers and the Fed

The fairest summary is that this is still a low-hire, low-fire economy, and it is tilting toward workers losing ground.24 Indeed's Hiring Lab sees one bright spot: job postings are up from a year earlier for the first time in nearly four years. But posted wages rose only 2.5% over the year to August, and gains are going mostly to high-wage occupations.26 For people who still have jobs, low layoffs mean relative stability. Those who are looking for work face a squeeze that neither the economy nor monetary policy is easing.26

The weak report sharply reduced expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike in October.21 Navy Federal's Heather Long still expects a December increase, describing the job market as stable but frustrating for workers whose pay is falling behind inflation.22 Netflix reports quarterly earnings on October 20.8 The next round of earnings calls will show whether October's cuts were a one-off or the start of a broader push to trim corporate payrolls.