The U.S. tech labor market has been trending downward for some time now. After a hiring spree post-pandemic, 2022 and 2023 saw cutbacks across major firms—and even as tech stocks rebounded on AI dreams, employment never really followed.
AI companies are burning through billions like it’s Monopoly money, and the actual people who built this industry are getting absolutely wrecked.
The Elephant In The Server Room
The tech employment market has been declining since early 2022—yes, before ChatGPT was even introduced. However, after OpenAI‘s rise and the AI hype, the gap between capital flows and actual hiring became impossible to ignore. Firms were still investing heavily in AI labs, yet hiring broadly froze, even outside of the sector.
Then, mass layoffs doubled in 2023, and at least 150,000 workers at tech companies were laid off in 2024 alone. By mid-2025, tech job postings dropped 36% below pre-pandemic levels, and the trend is expected to continue.
While we didn’t get the NFP data today, the August numbers were dismal, showing only 73,000 jobs added, with massive downward revisions. Eventually, President Donald Trump ousted the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over alleged “distorted” labor data.
“Important …