48%

A new standing section. One number per week. The stat that defines the signal.

Nearly half of all tech layoffs in Q1 2026 - 37,638 of 78,557 positions eliminated - were explicitly attributed to AI and workflow automation, according to Nikkei Asia analysis of regulatory filings.

This is not a projection. It is a count of what has already happened.

The remaining 52% include performance cuts, business restructuring, and what Sam Altman called "AI washing" - using AI as cover for decisions that would have been made anyway. Even discounting the AI attribution by half for AI washing, the number is still the largest single-quarter AI-attributed displacement on record.

What to do with this number: If your board or executive team has not yet discussed AI-attributed workforce risk as a distinct category from general redundancy planning, this is the data point that opens that conversation. Not as a threat. As a planning input.