Bay Area Tech Cuts Accelerate as ServiceNow, Salesforce File Fresh Layoff Notices

Now I'll write the article.

A layoff wave outpacing last year's

Fresh state filings show Silicon Valley's job cuts gathering speed, with ServiceNow, Salesforce, Ubisoft, Quizlet, and Verily Health disclosing plans to eliminate a combined 370 Bay Area positions in roles spanning Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Bruno.mercurynews The reductions are permanent, according to WARN notices on file with California's Employment Development Department.mercurynews So far in 2026, tech companies have reported decisions to cut 9,284 jobs across the nine-county region — already well above the roughly 4,700 jobs eliminated over the first six months of 2025.mercurynews

The newest batch is granular but telling. Ubisoft is cutting 93 jobs in San Francisco and Salesforce 86, while Quizlet eliminated 79 on June 5.mercurynews ServiceNow is trimming 54 jobs at its Lawson Lane headquarters in Santa Clara, and Verily Health is removing 58 positions in San Bruno, with most cutbacks scheduled between Aug. 7 and Aug. 17.mercurynews Meta's decision to eliminate 3,715 Bay Area jobs this year accounts for a large share of the regional total.mercurynews

Salesforce trims the teams behind its AI pitch

Salesforce's California WARN notice listed 86 cuts in sales, general administration, and technology and product roles, with additional positions hit in Washington state and abroad.businessinsider The reductions affected employees working on Agentforce, the MuleSoft integration tool, and Marketing Cloud, though one person familiar with the matter said core Agentforce teams were spared.businessinsider Affected workers remain on payroll until Aug. 7.businessinsider

The timing is awkward. Salesforce reported last month that Agentforce annualized revenue had passed $1 billion, yet the latest cuts follow a January round that eliminated fewer than 1,000 roles.businessinsider The company, which had more than 80,000 employees at the end of January, has seen its stock fall more than 30% this year amid fears that AI agents could erode demand for traditional software.businessinsider ServiceNow, for its part, framed its own reductions as a restructuring to align talent with AI priorities.

AI becomes the headline reason

The local filings mirror a national shift. U.S. employers cut 97,006 jobs in May, with the tech sector leading at 38,242 — its heaviest month since August 2024.forbes AI overtook market conditions, closures, and restructuring as the most-cited reason for layoffs, blamed for an estimated 38,579 cuts in May and 87,714 year-to-date.forbes Tech alone has shed 123,653 jobs since January, up 66% from the same period last year.forbes

Not everyone is convinced the rationale is honest. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called executives who blame AI for layoffs "lazy," and OpenAI's Sam Altman has accused companies of "AI washing" — pinning unrelated cuts on the technology.forbes Tech remains the leading industry citing AI for job losses even as it announced 11,250 new positions in May.forbes