Which tech layoffs tracker to trust, and where AI fits in

A tech layoffs tracker is only as useful as its counting rules, and the best-known ones count different things. Layoffs.fyi lists verified tech cuts, Crunchbase News tallies US tech employers each week, and WARN-based trackers read government filings from every industry. For alerts about the companies you follow, our pick is AyeWatch, an AI monitor that reads the same primary sources and pings you with the document.

Three trackers, three sets of rules

Facts in this table were checked on each site in November 2026.

Why the totals never match

Three things pull the numbers apart.

Scope. Layoffs.fyi covers tech companies wherever they are. Crunchbase News sticks to US-based tech employers; by its count, around 127,000 workers at those companies were laid off in 2025. WARN data covers every sector but only employers that had to file.

Evidence. Layoffs.fyi leaves out rumors and unverified reports and says its figures are likely an undercount as a result. That is a fair trade for a public database, but it means a cut can be real for days before it is counted.

Legal thresholds. The federal WARN Act applies to employers with 100 or more employees and requires at least 60 days' notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. California's version starts at 75 employees. Smaller rounds may never be filed anywhere.

Comparing one tracker's yearly total with another's mixes different scopes, so check the method before quoting either.

AI is now on both sides of the count

Layoffs.fyi runs a separate AI layoffs tracker for cuts that the company or the press tied to AI, whether to fund AI spending, replace work with AI, or respond to market shifts caused by it. That list records stated reasons. It does not measure how many jobs AI itself removed, because companies choose what to say.

The other side is the tracking itself. Reading 8-K filings, state WARN spreadsheets and newsroom posts, and deciding which ones are about job cuts, is the kind of reading work AI monitors now take on. For public companies, the filing to watch is a Form 8-K under Item 2.05, the item for exit and disposal plans with material costs, usually due within four business days.

Where an AI monitor fits

A tracker answers "how many". An alert answers "did it just happen at this company". AyeWatch handles the second job: you list the employers, add their newsrooms, the WARN pages for the states where they have staff and their SEC filings, and describe in plain English what counts. When something matches, it sends a short summary with links to the sources. It runs on the web, iOS and Android, with a free preview and paid plans from $9 a month.

It keeps no layoff database and produces no totals. If you need the industry-wide number, a tracker is still the tool.

Which one to use

• For the history of tech cuts, or the AI-attributed list: Layoffs.fyi is the better choice.
• For a weekly read on US tech: Crunchbase News.
• For every industry, straight from filings: WARNTracker or the state pages themselves.
• For a ping about the companies that affect you: AyeWatch, our overall pick for readers who need to act on a cut rather than chart it.

This is general information, not legal or investment advice.