GoPro lays off 23% of its employees as tech job cuts continue to rise in 2026
GoPro will lay off 23% of its workforce—about 145 employees—by the end of 2026, underscoring the deepening pressure on hardware makers navigating a crowded and slowing market.
The action camera company said the cuts are part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs and improving profitability after posting a $9 million quarterly loss in 2025. The layoffs will begin in the second quarter and cost between $11.5 million and $15 million, largely due to severance and healthcare obligations.
The move reflects a familiar pattern: legacy gadget players are being squeezed by both specialist rivals and increasingly capable smartphones. GoPro is betting on its new GP3 processor to revive growth, but for now, the priority is trimming expenses.
More broadly, 2026 is shaping up to be another bruising year for tech employment—and not just for niche players like GoPro.
Job cuts across the tech industry
Across the sector, layoffs have surged again after a brief stabilisation in 2024–25. In the first quarter alone, more than 52,000 tech jobs were cut, a 40% jump year-on-year, signalling that the post-pandemic correction is far from over.
The numbers have been rising in the first three months of the year. Estimates suggest over 35,000 tech workers have already lost jobs in 2026, while broader trackers put the number closer to 59,000 across nearly 200 companies.
The list of companies cutting roles reads like a who’s who of Big Tech. Amazon alone has eliminated around 16,000 jobs this year, while firms such as Meta, Salesforce, Atlassian and Block have also announced significant reductions.
Even companies still growing revenue are cutting staff. Dell’s workforce has shrunk by about 10% in fiscal 2026, reflecting a broader shift towards efficiency and automation.
Artificial intelligence sits at the centre of this wave—but not always in the way companies suggest. Around a quarter of layoffs in March were directly linked to AI-driven restructuring , as firms redirect budgets towards infrastructure and automation.
Yet analysts warn that “AI-washing” is real: companies are using the AI narrative to justify cost-cutting that might have happened anyway. Goldman Sachs estimates AI could be cutting tens of thousands of jobs monthly while creating far fewer, leaving a net employment gap.
There’s no doubt that AI is eliminating roles in areas like customer support, coding assistance and back-office operations, while simultaneously creating demand in data science and machine learning. However, analysts claim that the problem is timing—the jobs being created don’t match those being lost.
The action camera company said the cuts are part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs and improving profitability after posting a $9 million quarterly loss in 2025. The layoffs will begin in the second quarter and cost between $11.5 million and $15 million, largely due to severance and healthcare obligations.
The move reflects a familiar pattern: legacy gadget players are being squeezed by both specialist rivals and increasingly capable smartphones. GoPro is betting on its new GP3 processor to revive growth, but for now, the priority is trimming expenses.
More broadly, 2026 is shaping up to be another bruising year for tech employment—and not just for niche players like GoPro.
Job cuts across the tech industry
Across the sector, layoffs have surged again after a brief stabilisation in 2024–25. In the first quarter alone, more than 52,000 tech jobs were cut, a 40% jump year-on-year, signalling that the post-pandemic correction is far from over.
The numbers have been rising in the first three months of the year. Estimates suggest over 35,000 tech workers have already lost jobs in 2026, while broader trackers put the number closer to 59,000 across nearly 200 companies.
The list of companies cutting roles reads like a who’s who of Big Tech. Amazon alone has eliminated around 16,000 jobs this year, while firms such as Meta, Salesforce, Atlassian and Block have also announced significant reductions.
Even companies still growing revenue are cutting staff. Dell’s workforce has shrunk by about 10% in fiscal 2026, reflecting a broader shift towards efficiency and automation.
Artificial intelligence sits at the centre of this wave—but not always in the way companies suggest. Around a quarter of layoffs in March were directly linked to AI-driven restructuring , as firms redirect budgets towards infrastructure and automation.
Yet analysts warn that “AI-washing” is real: companies are using the AI narrative to justify cost-cutting that might have happened anyway. Goldman Sachs estimates AI could be cutting tens of thousands of jobs monthly while creating far fewer, leaving a net employment gap.
There’s no doubt that AI is eliminating roles in areas like customer support, coding assistance and back-office operations, while simultaneously creating demand in data science and machine learning. However, analysts claim that the problem is timing—the jobs being created don’t match those being lost.
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