Meta, Amazon, Wall Street: Global giants slashing headcounts worldwide

[SINGAPORE] The first four months of 2026 were marked by a significant wave of layoffs across the global corporate landscape.

Companies are increasingly pivoting away from pandemic-era expansion towards lean, digital-first models.

Whether driven by efficiency pushes, cooling consumer demand or massive capital reallocation, major organisations across technology, finance and retail have announced substantial workforce reductions to protect their margins in an uncertain economic climate.

The Business Times rounds up recent moves by major companies to pare their workforce.

Meta

On Apr 23, Meta said in an internal memo that it planned to cut 10 per cent of its workforce – about 8,000 employees – from May 20. It also indicated that about 6,000 open roles will remain unfilled.

Meta declined to comment when asked by BT whether any of the layoffs would be in Singapore.

The move is part of efforts to streamline operations and offset heavy spending on artificial intelligence, the company said. In the memo, chief people officer Janelle Gale said the cuts are intended to help Meta run more efficiently while supporting its ongoing investments.

Microsoft

Also on Apr 23, Microsoft introduced a voluntary retirement programme covering about 7 per cent of its US workforce, making about 8,750 employees eligible.

This marks the first time the company has offered buyouts on such a scale. As at June 2025, the company had about 125,000 employees in the United States.

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This move comes amid heavy spending on AI. Microsoft announced an US$18 billion expenditure on AI cloud and infrastructure in Australia – its largest-ever investment there – after committing US$10 billion over four years to AI in Japan.

Amazon

On Mar 4, Amazon confirmed that it had laid off staff across its robotics unit, with at least 100 white-collar jobs affected. These were mainly in teams responsible for designing robots and other automation systems, primarily for warehouses.

This followed a January cut of about 16,000 jobs, with the company hinting at the time that layoffs would continue.

In a statement, Amazon did not specify the number of job cuts, but noted that it regularly reviews its organisations to ensure teams are best positioned to innovate and deliver for clients.

Last October, the company began a round of layoffs affecting about 14,000 white-collar employees. In total, Amazon has cut some 30,000 corporate roles, citing efficiency gains from AI, as well as efforts to reshape its company culture.

Oracle

In March this year, Oracle said it would slash thousands of jobs as it manages a cash crunch linked to its large-scale expansion of AI data centres.

The cut will reportedly affect multiple divisions across the company from as early as March. Some of the reductions are expected to target roles that the tech company anticipates will be less needed due to AI.

The planned layoffs are expected to be broader than Oracle’s usual rolling job cuts. The company had about 162,000 employees globally as at end-May 2025.

eBay

The e-commerce player in February announced that it would trim about 800 jobs, or 6 per cent of its full-time employees, saying the layoffs are needed to align its workforce with strategic priorities.

The retrenchment marks the third round of cuts in three years. In early 2024, eBay axed around 1,000 jobs or roughly 9 per cent of its workforce, citing labour costs outpacing growth.

In early 2023, the company terminated about 500 employees, or around 4 per cent of staff.

Epic Games

On Mar 24, Epic Games said it would pare more than 1,000 jobs across the company due to a downturn in engagement with its flagship video game, Fortnight.

This was the video game developer and publisher’s second major round of layoffs in three years. The first was in 2023, when it let go of 820 employees for similar reasons.

The company said in a blog post that the latest retrenchments come as it is spending significantly more than it is earning.

Wall Street banks

A Bloomberg report in April indicated that Wall Street banks cut more than 5,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026.

A large portion of the reductions came from Wells Fargo, which slashed 4,199 roles in the period.

Chief executive Charles Scharf said that Wells Fargo has been increasing investments in technology, including AI, as well as advertising, while continuing to execute efficiency initiatives. This has resulted in 23 consecutive quarters of headcount reductions.

Citigroup cut about 2,000 jobs following an announcement in January that it intended to eliminate roughly 1,000 roles, amid CEO Jane Fraser’s efforts to control costs and improve returns.

The lender had around 227,000 employees at the end of September 2025. The workforce reduction is part of a broader plan announced in 2024 to slash 20,000 jobs by end-2026.

Morgan Stanley laid off about 3 per cent of its workforce, or roughly 2,500 employees, across all divisions in March.

The job cuts were across its three major divisions of investment banking and trading, wealth management and investment management, but did not affect its financial advisers.

BlackRock

In January, BlackRock was said to be cutting about 1 per cent of its global workforce, or around 250 employees, including members of its investment and sales teams. The move was attributed to broader efforts to reduce headcount.

The asset manager also carried out two rounds of job cuts last year, reducing about 1 per cent of its workforce on each occasion, Bloomberg reported at the time.

JLL

Global real estate consultancy JLL trimmed about 1 per cent of its Singapore workforce of more than 2,000 after a recent restructuring exercise, BT reported on Apr 30.

Of the more than 20 jobs cut, two research analysts were understood to have been retrenched. JLL cited “organisational realignment to streamline operations” as the reason for the layoffs.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney could cut as many as 1,000 positions, many of which will be in the company’s marketing department, the Wall Street Journal reported on Apr 8, citing sources.

Plans for the job reductions began before Josh D’Amaro assumed his role as Disney’s CEO in March. The planned layoffs would affect less than 1 per cent of the company’s employees, who totalled about 231,000 as at the end of fiscal year 2025.

Heineken

Heineken announced in February that it would cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs globally over the next two years, citing “challenging market conditions”.

On Mar 24, its wholly owned subsidiary Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore said it will lay off about 130 workers in the city-state, also over the next two years.

Boeing

In February, Boeing was reportedly eliminating about 300 supply chain jobs from its defence division, said a source familiar with the move.

The job cuts are spread across a number of sites around the United States, the source added.

Nike

Nike on Apr 24 said it will lay off about 1,400 global operations employees to streamline workflows. The struggling sportswear company has been fighting a years-long sales slump.

It said it would reduce headcount mainly in North America and Europe, and largely in its technology team. The retrenchments account for a little less than 2 per cent of Nike’s global workforce.