The message landed quietly in inboxes of Monday.com employees last week: some roles were being eliminated, and artificial intelligence was named as a contributing factor. For the project management software company, this move wasn’t isolated — it made Monday.com the latest name in a rapidly growing club of tech firms that have publicly linked layoffs to AI.
According to the original story that tracked this development, the number now exceeds 20 companies. The list — presented in reverse chronological order — includes startups and industry giants alike. Each has essentially told the market: we need fewer humans because our machines have become smarter.
Why Tech Companies Are Blaming AI for Job Cuts
The reasoning is straightforward: generative AI can now write code, design interfaces, manage workflows, and handle customer queries — tasks that previously required entire teams. By citing AI, companies position themselves as forward-looking, efficiency-driven, and aligned with shareholder expectations for lower costs.
But critics argue this framing obscures a more uncomfortable reality. “Layoffs driven by AI” often overlap with broader cost-cutting measures, restructuring, or post-pandemic normalization. The AI explanation becomes a convenient narrative.
Who Is Affected — and What Roles Are at Risk
The layoffs at Monday.com and similar companies hit mid-level engineers, product designers, customer support agents, and sales operations staff. These are knowledge workers who once believed their roles were immune to automation.
For employees, the message is visceral: your work can now be performed — or significantly augmented — by a model trained on the internet. The psychological impact extends beyond the paycheck; it challenges professional identity.
Monday.com’s Position: A Brief Context
Monday.com, founded in 2012, is a work operating system used by over 200,000 organizations. It went public on Nasdaq in 2021 at a valuation of over $6 billion. The company has historically grown by adding sales teams and building partnerships. With AI becoming a core offering (Monday AI features were launched in 2023), the need for human-led customization may have diminished.
The company has not confirmed the exact number of employees affected or the specific departments. The original story reported only that AI was “a stated factor.”
What Officials Have Said — or Haven’t Said
As of this writing, Monday.com has not released a formal statement addressing the layoffs or the role of AI. The information comes from the third-party tracking report that inspired this article. Without direct corporate confirmation, the details remain unverified.
We reached out to Monday.com’s press office for comment but received no immediate response. This article will be updated if new information becomes available.
Confirmed Facts vs What Remains Unclear
Confirmed: The original story states that Monday.com has been added to a list of 20+ tech companies that blamed AI for layoffs. The list exists in the public domain as a running news roundup.
Unclear: The exact number of jobs cut at Monday.com, the timeline, the internal criteria for selecting roles, and the proportion of savings attributed to AI versus other factors. We cannot independently verify the complete list of 20 companies.
How Monday.com Compares: Its Moat and Competitive Edge
Monday.com’s core advantage lies in its low-code visual interface, extensive integrations, and strong brand recognition among mid-market businesses. Its AI features — such as automated workflows and smart suggestions — directly replace manual effort. This creates a paradox: the product that helps customers automate tasks may also automate internal jobs.
The company’s moat is its ecosystem: once a team is locked into Monday.com’s templates and integrations, switching costs are high. But if competitors like Asana, Trello, or Notion also deploy AI layoffs, the industry morale may suffer.
Risks and Balanced View
Blaming AI for layoffs carries reputational risks. Employees and candidates may view the company as a place where humans are disposable. Investors, however, often reward efficiency drives that boost margins.
On the other hand, some argue that AI actually creates new job categories — prompt engineers, AI auditors, and data curators. The net effect on employment remains hotly debated. The 20+ companies cited may represent only a small fraction of tech firms that are reshuffling roles rather than reducing headcount overall.
Wider Trend: The AI Layoff Wave of 2024–25
This isn’t an isolated event. In the last 18 months, companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, IBM, Duolingo, Chegg, and others have all mentioned AI as a factor in restructuring. IBM explicitly stated it would pause hiring for back-office roles that could be replaced by AI.
The pattern is accelerating: as AI models become cheaper and more capable, the threshold for human replacement lowers. The “20+ companies” list is likely to become 30, then 50, unless a regulatory or cultural pushback emerges.
Practical Guidance for Affected Workers
If you work in tech and fear AI-driven job displacement, consider upskilling in areas AI struggles with — complex negotiation, cross-team coordination, strategic decision-making, and ethical oversight. Specialising in AI governance, prompt engineering, or LLM fine-tuning can also turn the threat into an opportunity.
For investors: companies that successfully integrate AI while managing layoffs humanely may outperform. But those that use AI as a PR cover for poor planning could face backlash.
Future Outlook: More Blame, More Shifting
We expect Monday.com to be followed by other SaaS companies in the coming months. The list of 20+ will grow. The key question is whether regulators — particularly in the EU — will classify AI-driven layoffs as a form of automation that requires retraining obligations or severance upgrades.
For now, the message from the market is clear: if AI can do it cheaper, the human may be let go.
Our Take
The Monday.com story is more than a corporate announcement — it is a signal. For the first time, a mainstream SaaS company that sells productivity tools is itself cutting productivity roles due to AI. That irony should not be lost on anyone. The industry that created the tools replacing jobs is now being reshaped by them.
We caution against accepting the “AI blame” uncritically. In many cases, layoffs are driven by over-hiring during the venture capital boom of 2021–22, and AI is a convenient post hoc justification. But even if only half the 20+ cases are genuine, the trend is unmistakable. Journalism must track this list, verify each claim, and hold companies accountable for both the numbers and the narrative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Monday.com confirm AI as the reason for layoffs?
Not yet publicly. The original story reports that AI was a stated factor in the layoffs, but no official Monday.com statement has been released as of now.
Which other tech companies have blamed AI for layoffs?
The list includes Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, IBM, Duolingo, Chegg, and at least 15 others. The exact roster varies by source; this article tracks a running list of 20+ firms.
Are AI-driven layoffs a new trend?
Yes, in scale. While automation has always displaced some jobs, the explicit public linking of layoffs to generative AI is a post-ChatGPT phenomenon that began in 2023 and accelerated in 2024–25.
What can workers do if their company uses AI to replace jobs?
Focus on acquiring skills AI cannot easily replicate: cross-functional leadership, creative problem-solving, ethical judgment, and client relationship management. Also stay informed about your company’s AI strategy.
Is this list of 20 companies verified?
The list as presented in the original story is based on published news reports for each company. We have not independently verified each entry. Readers are encouraged to check original sources for each firm.
