Google hiring, Meta firing: AI reshapes Big Tech jobs

Big Tech companies are spending billions on artificial intelligence. Now, the impact on jobs is becoming clear. Recent earnings reports show that some tech giants are hiring while others are cutting staff. The changes come as companies restructure teams and invest heavily in AI. **Google** is growing. Its parent company, Alphabet, added 11,830 employees from June 2025 to June 2026. The biggest jump came in the second quarter of 2026, when it added more than 4,000 workers. This follows major layoffs in 2023, when Google cut about 12,000 jobs. **Meta** is shrinking. The social media company lost over 2,000 employees between the first and second quarters of 2026. As of June 30, it had 75,472 workers, a 1% drop from a year earlier. Meta said its head count includes about 8,000 workers affected by a May layoff. The company is moving over 7,000 employees to new AI-focused projects. Meta plans to spend between $130 billion and $145 billion on AI this year. **Microsoft** is also cutting. The tech giant had about 223,000 full-time employees as of June 30, down 5,000 from a year earlier. In July, it announced plans to lay off roughly 4,800 workers. Microsoft's Xbox division said it will cut 20% of its workforce this year. The company is spending heavily on AI, but investor concerns have pulled its stock down 18%. The future of tech jobs remains unclear. Some leaders, like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, say AI could cause "significant enduring job loss." Others, like AWS CEO Matt Garman, say such predictions are overblown. The World Economic Forum estimates that 92 million jobs will be lost by 2030, but 170 million new ones will be created.