--- title: "Tech Workers, Long Treated Like Aristocracy, Are Now Human Waste" description: "Over 100,000 technology workers have been laid off so far in 2026, and the bloodbath is only getting started." date: "2026-05-18" modified: "2026-05-18" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/tech-workers-human-waste" categories: - "Future Society" --- # Tech Workers, Long Treated Like Aristocracy, Are Now Human Waste ![Close-up of a white toilet tank with a shiny chrome flush handle on the left side and a partially visible toilet seat on the right.]() *Getty / Futurism* Ten years ago if you had told a tech industry recruiter their days are numbered, you'd be laughed out of the job fair. Now in 2026, it's conventional wisdom: a freshly-minted computer science degree is now anything but a sure road to gainful employment. Tech companies have spent the last few years culling thousands of high-paying jobs, course-correcting after major over-hiring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise of [AI-washing]() hasn't helped, with plenty of tech CEO's slashing payroll budgets to show investors how eager they are to funnel capital toward the tech. And according to a [recent report]() by Statista, first [reported by *SF Gate*](), things are about to get much worse. Per the analytics firm, over 100,000 tech jobs have already been lost over the first four months of the year, rivalling the bloodbath of [early 2023](). "The current trajectory suggests the sector may be entering another period of restructuring, with 2026 already on track to rival the scale of layoffs seen in previous downturns," the report reads. That's not all the bad news. While erstwhile tech workers face terrible job prospects in their own industry, many are also finding it [increasingly difficult]() to jump ship to other sectors, which are *also* taking a beating from AI. According to a recent [LinkedIn report](), the average seasonally adjusted hiring rate of entry-level employees in the US fell 6 percent between December 2025 and February 2026, compared to the same time period the prior year. At the same time, the median experience level of employees at top companies identified by LinkedIn grew from 6 years in 2016 to 8.5 in 2025. In other words, the jobs opportunities are steadily getting worse, as workers across the labor market cling onto jobs like debris after a shipwreck. It's a nearly inconceivable fate for tech workers, those battalions of once-illustrious STEM graduates whose biggest sin was "learning to code." **More on tech labor:** *[Mark Zuckerberg Is Realizing That When You Treat Your Workers Like Human Garbage, They Might Not Like You Anymore]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()