What is the AI Layoff Tracker?

A free, continuously updated layoff tracker covering verified job cuts worldwide across all industries and causes. It flags which layoffs companies explicitly attribute to AI or automation. Every entry links to a primary source: a SEC 8-K filing, a US state WARN notice, or a named news outlet with the exact quote.

How many layoffs have there been in 2026 so far?

So far in 2026 the tracker holds 3,218 verified layoff events totaling 849,978 job cuts worldwide. Companies explicitly blamed AI for 128,272 of those cuts. Totals update daily as new filings and reports are verified.

Where does the layoff data come from?

Four kinds of sources. SEC 8-K filings, searched twice daily. Official WARN notices from 47 US states, imported daily with no AI processing. The European Restructuring Monitor, which is Eurofound's official per-company database of announced restructuring across the EU27, Norway and historically the UK (imported daily and credited to Eurofound; because these are announcement-stage figures, they feed the separately labeled "Announced" tier and never the verified totals). And worldwide press coverage in 65+ languages through the GDELT news index plus NewsAPI. The dataset spans 2015 to the present across 48 countries, 45,136 events in total.

How is this different from the Challenger report or the WSJ and TrueUp layoff trackers?

Announcement surveys count corporate intentions on the day of the announcement. This job layoff tracker counts what has a verifiable document or quoted primary source behind it, so it is a documented floor rather than an estimate. Announcement-stage cuts are also tracked, but in a separately labeled tier that is never mixed into the verified totals.

Can journalists and researchers use this data?

Yes, free with attribution to asktherecruiter.com (CC BY 4.0). Filtered or full CSV and JSON downloads are on the page, and a public REST API serves the same data. Corrected entries are publicly flagged, and every correction to published figures is disclosed in the on-page corrections log.

How often is the tracker updated?

Continuously. News and SEC filings are collected twice daily (morning and after US market close, ET); official WARN notices and Eurofound ERM records import daily; the daily summary, stats, charts and table read live data on every page load; and the US Challenger comparison updates automatically each month when their report publishes. The Tracker Health page shows every collector's latest run in real time.

What is the difference between "verified" and "announced" job cuts?

Verified cuts have a filing or independently reported source behind them: a WARN notice, an SEC filing, or a named outlet's report of cuts taking place. Announced cuts are company plans reported at announcement stage, tracked in their own labeled tier and never mixed into the verified totals, because announced plans can shrink, stretch over years, or partially happen through attrition.

How do I report an error?

Use the contact page or email info@asktherecruiter.com and corrections get priority. Every entry links to its primary source, so you can check any number against the underlying document.

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Press & Media

Name: AI Layoff Tracker
Creator: AskTheRecruiter
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

AskTheRecruiter · press & media

Table of Contents

Press & Media

About the AI Layoff Tracker

The AI Layoff Tracker is a continuously updated database of verified job cuts worldwide, with a specific focus on flagging which layoffs companies attribute to AI or automation. Every entry links to a primary source: an SEC 8-K filing, a state WARN notice, or a named news report with a direct quote. Live editorial tracking began in January 2026; the database also carries historical records back to 2015, built from official WARN filings and SEC disclosures, so year-over-year comparisons are possible.

Press contact

For data requests, custom cuts of the dataset, corrections, or comment, use the contact page or email [email protected]. Corrections get priority review, and every correction to a published figure is logged publicly on the tracker.

Using our data

Free for editorial, research, and educational use under CC BY 4.0. Please attribute to asktherecruiter.com and link back where possible.

Suggested attribution: “According to the AI Layoff Tracker by AskTheRecruiter.com…”

Key stats by year

Live figures from the same database the tracker serves. “AI-attributed” uses our strict standard: the company named AI as a primary or contributing cause, with a supporting quote on file. A broader Challenger-style measure is charted on the US comparison section.

Year	Verified events	Job cuts recorded	AI-attributed cuts (strict)
2026	2,761	808,988	126,872
2025	4,724	1,413,047	199,637
2024	4,259	1,115,999	87,164
2023	3,935	1,060,283	24,523
2022	1,795	330,014	0
2021	1,791	407,078	0
2020	13,396	2,654,376	50
2019	2,626	670,825	0
2018	2,217	581,877	500
2017	2,162	487,489	12,540
2016	2,480	731,475	0
2015	2,498	649,584	0

Coverage depth varies by year: 2015 to 2023 is primarily official US WARN filings; from 2024 on, worldwide news, SEC filings and European Restructuring Monitor coverage deepen. Methodology and per-country sources are documented on the tracker itself.

Editorial independence

The tracker is a data product of AskTheRecruiter.com. Its numbers are produced by fixed, published rules: counts come only from linked primary documents, AI labels require the employer’s own words, and no figure is adjusted for any commercial purpose. The full methodology, the per-country source list, the public corrections log and the collection code are open for inspection, and the dataset can be reproduced from the public API by anyone.

Access the full dataset

Filtered or full CSV and JSON exports are on the tracker page. The public REST API serves the same data live: GET /blog/wp-json/layoffs/v1/query and GET /blog/wp-json/layoffs/v1/aggregate. Company pages with stable, linkable URLs live under /company-layoffs/ (for example, a reporter can cite one company’s full source-linked history at a permanent address).