Q1 2026: roughly 80,000 tech layoffs, nearly half tied to AI. Oracle cut up to 30,000 in a single 6am email.
Same quarter: 67,000 open software engineering roles across major tech companies, up 30%, the highest in three years.
Both numbers are real. Outplacement firms tracked the cuts. Hiring analytics platforms tracked the openings
But the surge isn't uniform: AI infrastructure, platform engineering, and senior roles are driving demand. Entry-level postings have collapsed, down 25% or more year-over-year at the largest firms, and far worse measured against 2022 peaks. We can see two completely different markets hiding behind one headline.
Meanwhile every project brief I receive are for AWS depth, multi-model routing, agent orchestration, Bedrock integration. None of that existed in a job posting in 2023.
The market split into two jobs: the one AI replaces, and the one that builds where AI runs.