About 11,000 Tech Workers Lost Their Jobs Today
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Meta’s cuts were months in the making. The company simultaneously moved 7,000 workers into four new AI-focused organizations and canceled 6,000 open roles. In a single week, Meta reshaped close to 21,000 positions. Affected U.S. employees lose badge and system access immediately, enter a paid non-working notice period, and receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service. COBRA coverage runs 18 months. Three months of outplacement support comes through Lee Hecht Harrison. Employees have up to one week before their termination date to apply for an internal role; if they land one, the separation agreement is voided.
One detail from Meta’s layoff email that didn’t make many headlines: “We know this is especially difficult for those whose visa and work authorization is sponsored by Meta.” Thousands of tech workers in the U.S. are on employer-sponsored visas. When the job goes, the clock starts on legal status. Meta directed affected employees to immigration attorneys through an Alumni Portal. That’s meaningful acknowledgment, but cold comfort when your work authorization just got tied to a company that locked you out of your badge this morning.
Intuit’s situation is worth examining separately. CEO Sasan Goodarzi’s memo framed the cuts as reducing complexity and sharpening focus on AI. Intuit makes TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Credit Karma, products used by tens of millions of small businesses and consumers. The company has signed multi-year deals with Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their models into its software and add Intuit’s tax, finance, and accounting capabilities into Claude and ChatGPT. Its Reno and Woodland Hills offices are closing. U.S. staff have until July 31. Intuit shares fell nearly 5% on the news, with Q3 earnings due the same day. The Davos observation from two unnamed executives earlier this year is worth keeping in mind: some companies would have trimmed headcount regardless, and AI provides a cleaner investor narrative. Whether that applies to Intuit specifically is harder to say. What’s clear is that the company is actively rebuilding around a different workforce model, signing AI platform deals while cutting one in six employees.
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On the Same Day 11,000 Tech Jobs Disappeared, Here’s What 1,500 Employers Actually Said About Entry-Level Hiring
The timing of the Strada Institute’s new report is something. Published this week, it asked nearly 1,500 executives and senior talent leaders what’s actually happening to entry-level hiring as AI spreads through their organizations. The answer cuts against today’s headlines.
In 2025, nearly four times as many employers reported AI led to an increase in entry-level hiring as reported a decrease, 46% versus 13%. Looking ahead to 2026, the ratio narrows but holds: 2.7-to-1 expecting AI to increase entry-level hiring over decrease it. The single most frequently cited driver of those increases? Greater AI use itself. 27% of employers reporting growth in entry-level hiring cited AI as the primary reason.
The nature of the work is shifting, though, and that matters for anyone trying to understand what “more entry-level jobs” actually means. 42% of employers say AI has increased the analytical and judgment-based responsibilities assigned to entry-level employees. 41% say it’s reduced routine administrative work. The bar is going up. Entry-level work is becoming harder, not disappearing, which is a different problem for a different set of people.
The skills finding is the one worth flagging for anyone advising new graduates. Employers rated AI literacy as the least important skill when evaluating entry-level candidates. Critical thinking, communication, and collaboration ranked at the top. AI literacy was the only skill where employers rated graduates’ performance higher than their stated importance, meaning new graduates are already better at it than employers currently need. What employers need, and aren’t finding, are people who can think clearly and work with others. The technology piece is coming along on its own.
Work experience remains the dominant separator. Strada tested seven candidate profiles against each other. A candidate with direct work experience in a similar role ranked highest. A candidate with a 4.0 GPA and academic honors but no work experience ranked dead last. The degree still matters as a credential floor. Experience is what separates people above that floor.
The companies going deepest on AI integration are, counterintuitively, hiring the most entry-level workers; 59% of firms with strategic AI integration reported growth in entry-level hiring. Tech-focused roles in data science, software development, cybersecurity, and AI saw the highest demand growth, with 57% of expanding employers citing those specifically. The headline today is 11,000 jobs gone. The data underneath it says the market is sorting, not collapsing, and the people positioned best are the ones who show up with real experience and the judgment to work alongside whatever tools they’re handed.
Frequently Asked Questions
The data is more complicated than the headlines suggest. Strada Institute’s survey of nearly 1,500 employers found that in 2025, nearly four times as many reported AI increased entry-level hiring as reported a decrease. For 2026, the ratio is 2.7-to-1 in favor of growth. The work itself is changing (more analytical, less routine), but the volume of entry-level roles isn’t collapsing across most industries.
Critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, in that order. Strada’s survey ranked AI literacy dead last in importance, and it was the only skill where graduates’ performance was rated higher than employers’ stated need. Work experience in a similar role was the single most valued credential, outranking GPA, academic honors, and every other factor tested.
