Bay Area layoffs surge as tech giants lead new wave of workforce cuts

The San Francisco Bay Area saw a sharp increase in announced layoffs during the second quarter of 2026, according to Work Adjustment and Retraining Notices (WARN) filed with the state of California. Employers reported 9,390 planned job cuts across the San Francisco, San Jose and East Bay markets in the quarter, up from 4,290 in the year-earlier period and more than double the 4,459 layoffs announced in the first quarter of 2026. The surge reverses the relative moderation seen through much of 2024 and 2025 and underscores the region’s continued struggle to balance rapid investment in artificial intelligence with slower hiring growth.