Tech Layoffs Cross 1 Lakh In 2026 As Cloudflare Joins AI Cost-Cutting Trend

Cybersecurity company Cloudflare announced that it is cutting its workforce due to AI push, affecting more than 1,100 employees globally. The company reiterated that this is part of its effort to be prepared for “agentic AI era”, where AI-powered tools and workflows are becoming central to business operations.

The announcement came following the cautious revenue forecast, below Wall Street expectations.

Despite the concerns, Cloudflare continues to show solid underlying financial performance. The company earlier reported a 34% year-on-year rise in first-quarter revenue to US$639.8 million, while generating US$84.1 million in free cash flow, representing 13% of total revenue.

Investors have kept the faith in the cybersecurity firm over the past

few years. The stocks have constantly gained in the past year to rise 106 per cent.

According to Layoffs.fyi, over 101,550 employees were laid off among 120 tech companies in 2026 so far, suggesting a broad trend of cost-cutting and leaner workforce model adopted by firms in the age of AI. Among the major tech companies who had fired their employees at the substantial level this year are Google, Oracle, PayPal, Amazon, Coinbase, etc.