Tech layoffs this week: Cloudflare, Coinbase, Upwork, and others point to AI as they slash jobs

April was not a good month for the tech industry in terms of job losses. Last month, major firms—including Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Snap—all announced significant workforce reductions.

But now, May is not shaping up to be any better.

This week alone, news emerged that several major tech companies, including Cloudflare, PayPal, and Coinbase, are set to cut thousands of positions.

And yes, you can blame AI for the job cuts—or at least the bosses are.

Cloudflare cuts more than 1,100 jobs

Yesterday, Cloudflare announced that it was laying off more than 1,100 workers across the globe. That equates to roughly about 20% of the company’s workforce.

The announcement came from the company’s cofounders, Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn.

The pair published the letter they sent to employees earlier in the day announcing those layoffs. The main driver of the layoffs—as has been with so many tech layoffs lately—is a shift to artificial intelligence in the workplace.

In the letter sent to employees, Cloudflare notes that its use of AI in the workplace has “increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone,” across myriad departments, including engineering, marketing, finance, and HR.

Cloudflare says these departments now “run thousands of AI agent sessions each day to get their work done.”

Shares of Cloudflare Inc (NYSE: NET) were down roughly 15% following the announcement and its first-quarter earnings report.

Bill.com reduces workforce by 30%

On the same day Cloudflare announced its layoffs, the fintech billing SaaS provider for small and medium businesses, Bill Holdings (NYSE: BILL), did the same.

Likewise, the company posted a letter from CEO René Lacerte, announcing the job cuts to employees.

In the letter, Lacerte announced that Bill “will become an AI native company.” Lacerte said that companies operating in an AI-first world will see “the time between ideation and execution is much faster,” which necessitates changes in how Bill as a company works and operates.

As a result of this shift, Lacerte said the company will cut 30% of its workforce by the end of its Q4 2026, which equates to around 700 positions.

“This is a considered and deliberate decision that reflects the needs of the business,” Lacerte said. “We are structuring our business to achieve profitability at meaningful levels for a company of our scale and tenure; while also positioning our business to operate more effectively and efficiently in an AI-first world.”

Upwork lays off 25% of its employees

The freelancing platform Upwork Inc (Nasdaq: UPWK) also announced on Thursday that it was initiating job cuts. In a blog post, CEO Hayden Brown said approximately 25% of its workers would lose their roles.

And yes, artificial intelligence is partly to blame. 

“Two pizza teams are dead,” Brown said. “AI means smaller, differently resourced teams in product and engineering can make a bigger impact than ever.”

Despite announcing the layoffs on Thursday, Brown said the affected employees will not be notified until next week. 

Upwork has around 600 employees, so a 25% reduction would result in about 150 people losing their jobs.

Coinbase cuts 14% of its staff

On Tuesday, crypto exchange platform Coinbase Global Inc (Nasdaq: COIN) announced it was laying off about 14% of its staff, or roughly 700 employees. As Fast Company previously reported, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong cited two factors for the layoffs.

The first was the recent volatility in crypto markets in general, which Armstrong said necessitated cost-cutting measures.

And the second factor? AI.

“We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native,” Armstrong’s email to employees stated. “We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.”

PayPal reportedly plans to cut a staggering 4,700 jobs

But the worst news this week—at least when it comes to the sheer number of job cuts—involves PayPal Holdings Inc (Nasdaq: PYPL).

As the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, the payments platform plans to cut around 20% of its staff over the next two to three years. The WSJ cited a person familiar with the planned cuts as the source of the information.

Fast Company reached out to PayPal for comment.

The information comes after CEO Enrique Lores told investors the same day that PayPal “will remove duplication and layers from our organizational structure” while accelerating its “AI adoption and automation across our operations.”

If the 20% reduction is correct, it will represent approximately 4,700 jobs lost at the company over the next 24 to 36 months.

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