The counters flipped over the weekend: the running trackers now show 2026 has cut more tech jobs than all of 2025, and there are still four months left on the calendar. The tally sits north of 205,000 people across 320-odd events — close to a thousand roles a day. Early August did its part, with Zillow shedding about 500 (roughly 7% of its staff) alongside smaller rounds at TikTok, Etsy, and Google. What's worth noticing is the framing. A chunk of these announcements name AI as the reason, yet several companies have gone out of their way to say it wasn't — the quieter story underneath is overhiring, soft revenue, and investor pressure finally catching up. If you're job-hunting or planning headcount, the number to watch isn't the AI narrative; it's that the pace hasn't eased since spring.