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Layoffs in 2025 (July Sep): Google, xAI, Fiverr, Salesforce, Oracle and More Fire Over 10K Workers Amid AI Push

Layoffs in 2025 (July-Sep): Google, xAI, Fiverr, Salesforce, Oracle and More Fire Over 10K Workers Amid AI Push

Salesforce tops the list of companies conducting mass layoffs, after cutting 4,000 roles in August.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 18 September 2025 14:48 IST

Layoffs in 2025 (July-Sep): Google, xAI, Fiverr, Salesforce, Oracle and More Fire Over 10K Workers Amid AI Push

Photo Credit: Pixabay/Mohamed Hassan

Indian firm Head Digital Works handed the pink slip to 500 employees earlier this month

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Highlights

AI remains the biggest reason behind layoffs in the last two months
Google fired 200 contractors working with Gemini and AI products
Microsoft’s layoffs have continued for five months straight

The post-pandemic period has not been easy on tech professionals. Every year since 2021, major tech companies have laid off employees in large numbers. The job market has been severely affected by the revenue slowdown due to the world returning to normal after an extended lockdown, and the simultaneous rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-led automation. Things did not improve in the first half of 2025 either, as various market conditions and external factors led to more than 75,000 workers losing employment.

In July, Gadgets 360 reported that the mass layoffs in the first half of the year were led by global tech giants such as Intel, Microsoft, Meta, and HP. Now, nine months into the year, the job cuts do not appear to be stopping. In the 64 days between now and our previous report, more than 10,000 professionals have received the pink slip again. Let us take a look at the companies that contributed to the layoff numbers and the circumstances that resulted in the move. We have also added a comprehensive list at the bottom, in case you want the information at a glance.

Tech Layoff: Google Unexpectedly Fires Contractors Working on Gemini

According to Wired, more than 200 contractors who were tasked with evaluating and improving Google's Gemini and other AI products were laid off in August. The pink slip was reportedly handed out at a time when the workers were protesting the tech giant's working conditions and pay.

Citing unnamed workers affected in the layoff, the report claimed that Google had outsourced its AI rating work to Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic and other outsourcing agencies. The professionals, who are subject-matter experts, essentially rate the responses generated by Gemini and other AI models based on accuracy, comprehensiveness, and other factors. Google did not disclose the reason behind the layoff.

Tech Layoff: Elon Musk's xAI Fires 500 Employees

In a twist of events, Elon Musk's AI firm xAI fired more than 500 staffers last week, Business Insider reported. All of the laid-off employees reportedly belonged to the company's data annotation team.

"After a thorough review of our Human Data efforts, we've decided to accelerate the expansion and prioritisation of our specialist AI tutors, while scaling back our focus on general AI tutor roles. This strategic pivot will take effect immediately. As part of this shift in focus, we no longer need most generalist AI tutor positions, and your employment with xAI will conclude," an email obtained by the publication mentioned.

The fired employees reportedly played a role in categorising raw data and helping Grok contextually understand the world.

Tech Layoff: Fiverr Fires 30 Percent of Workforce to Become AI-First

Fiverr, a popular freelance services marketplace, let go of 250 employees on Monday. The company's Founder and CEO, Micha Kaufman, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) about the layoff and said it was part of the company's restructuring to an AI-first model.

This essentially means using AI to automate workflows and eliminating human roles with those of AI systems. “This transformation requires a painful reset, and as we make it, we will be parting ways with approximately 250 team members across the different departments, resulting in a smaller and flatter organisation,” Kaufman said.

The CEO also highlighted that the new infrastructure will focus on a smaller team with “greater productivity and far fewer management layers.”

Tech Layoffs: Salesforce Pushes for AI Automation, Fires 4,000 Staffers

The enterprise-focused cloud-based software company has been pushing heavily for AI. It is not only introducing new AI features in its products, but also using it to restructure the organisation and eliminate roles. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff highlighted earlier this month that the company reduced headcount from 9,000 to 5,000 due to AI-led automation, as per a Business Insider report. Calling the rise of AI the “most exciting months of my career,” he explained that AI agents were replacing individuals in its customer support division.

A company spokesperson told the publication that the biggest contributor towards this was the Agentforce system, which began handling support cases on its own, making human employees redundant. “We've successfully redeployed hundreds of employees into other areas like professional services, sales, and customer success,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Tech Layoffs: Head Digital Works' Regulatory Pains

Somewhat of an anomaly, Indian company Head Digital Works laid off 500 employees earlier this month, Entrackr reported. But the reason was not AI. The company behind A23 Rummy, A23 Poker, and Cricket.com, reportedly reduced its workforce by 71 percent after the Government brought the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, into force, banning real-money games.

The company CEO, Siddharth Sharma, said in a statement that the “recent regulatory changes necessitated this step,” and that it was handling the transition responsibly, "providing meaningful severance and support to those impacted.” Head Digital Works now reportedly has 200 employees.

Tech Layoff: Oracle's Headcount Reduction Said to Be Fueled by Its AI Growth

Oracle, an enterprise tech company specialising in database software and cloud infrastructure, reportedly handed the pink slip to nearly 300 employees last month. As per Pleasanton Weekly, the layoff message was shared with the affected workers around the same time the company announced that OpenAI's GPT-5 model was deployed across its databases and cloud applications. The company has not issued an official statement so far.

Tech Layoffs Between July and September 2025

While we have listed several companies and their layoff numbers above, the full list is much longer. According to data from Layoffs.fyi and research by Gadgets 360, the number of employees impacted by the ongoing layoffs is well above 10,000. This is a shocking number considering it has been only 64 days since our last report. Here's a breakdown of the tech layoffs that became public knowledge:

Serial Number	Company	Employees Laid Off	Timeline
1	Salesforce	4,262	August - September, 2025
2	Oracle	688	August, 2025
3	Head Digital Works	500	September, 2025
4	xAI	500	September, 2025
5	Games 24x7	400	September, 2025
6	Mobile Premier League	300	September, 2025
7	Fiverr	250	September, 2025
8	Cisco	221	August, 2025
9	Google	200	August, 2025
10	Scale AI	200	July, 2025
11	Yotpo	200	August, 2025
12	Rivian	200	August, 2025
13	Zupee	170	September, 2025
14	Jamf	166	July, 2025
15	Atlassian	161	July, 2025
16	Clear	150	August, 2025

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Further reading: Layoff, Google, xAI, Fiverr, Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft, AI, Artificial Intelligence

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Chief Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More