Thousands of Employees May Lose Their Jobs Within Weeks.. Wave of Layoffs Hits Israeli High-Tech

SadaNews - The high-tech sector in the country is witnessing a wide wave of layoffs, with more than a thousand employees having lost their jobs or facing threats of job loss in the coming weeks, due to cost-cutting decisions made by local companies and development centers affiliated with major American firms. The company "Wix" stands out with the largest number of dismissed employees among the companies, as it prepares to lay off between 800 and 1000 employees, including hundreds in Israel. Global companies like "Meta", "Intuit", and "ZoomInfo" have also announced layoffs in the country, in addition to the Israeli company AI21 Labs.

According to a report by the newspaper "TheMarker", the current wave of layoffs is not limited to the country, but comes as part of a broader global trend. Since the beginning of the year, "Amazon" announced layoffs of over 15,000 employees, "Block" laid off 4,000 employees, and "Meta" laid off 8,000 employees, while "Oracle" is estimated to lay off 30,000 employees. The report pointed out that artificial intelligence and the rise in the value of the shekel are not the only reasons for the layoffs; there are additional factors including a slowdown in growth, pressures to achieve profits, and corporate restructuring to reduce expenses and increase efficiency.

A high-tech executive told the newspaper that companies plan their hiring levels in advance based on growth forecasts, but when the expected growth does not materialize, they start freezing hiring or reducing the number of employees. He added that artificial intelligence affects companies in two ways: by competing with some existing products and by enabling companies to operate with fewer employees.

The report clarified that what differentiates the current wave is that large and profitable companies have also started executing wide layoffs despite their growth, such as "Meta" and other major technology firms, where some executives are considering the reductions as a proactive step in anticipation of the effects of artificial intelligence on the job market.

In this context, "ClickUp" justified laying off 22% of its staff despite its CEO stating that the company's situation is "better than ever", explaining that artificial intelligence will make small teams more productive. Jack Dorsey also mentioned that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence will reduce the need for a large number of employees in the future, and thus he preferred to implement wide layoffs all at once rather than in gradual steps.

On the other hand, the report noted an increasing criticism of what is called "AI Washing", which means using artificial intelligence as a pretext to justify layoffs while the real reasons are related to cost-cutting or business issues.

Multinational companies operating in Israel have experienced significant reductions in recent weeks. "ZoomInfo" decided to completely shut down its development center in the country until the end of the year and lay off 260 employees in Israel, even though the company's global reductions included only 20% of its employees. "Intuit" also laid off about 200 employees out of 500 in its center in Petah Tikva, along with stopping entire teams' operations within the company.

The American company "Shatterfly" closed its development center in Haifa, resulting in the layoff of about 90 employees, and "Remitly" also shut down its development center earlier in the year. Industry officials talked about the impact of the rising shekel on foreign companies operating in Israel, with one official stating that Israel has become a high-cost market for global companies, which makes the scale of layoffs larger. Another executive who spoke to the newspaper noted that the rise of the shekel practically equates to a wage increase when calculated in dollars, adding that his company can currently bear this, but it represents an unhealthy situation in the long term.

Despite the atmosphere of concern, the report indicated that employment data does not yet indicate a widespread crisis in the high-tech sector. According to data from the research company IVC, only 6 development centers have been closed since the beginning of 2026, compared to the opening of 9 new centers, most of which followed the acquisition of local companies by foreign firms. Additionally, 22 new development centers were added during 2025, and 27 centers during 2024.

Data from the Aaron Institute for Economic Policies at Reichman University showed that 2025 recorded a record number of employees in the high-tech sector, with the number of employees rising to 570,000, representing 16.3% of the total workforce. The number of job vacancies in the sector also increased by 15% during 2025, according to the employment division and the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The report noted that the demand for programmers and software engineers still exists, although finding jobs has become more challenging for entry-level employees. Data from the Bank of Israel published this week also show a continued increase in the number of workers and productivity in the high-tech sector until the beginning of 2026.

In conclusion, the report indicated that the forecasts predicting widespread job losses due to artificial intelligence have not yet materialized into actual reality. The report cited the comments of "Goldman Sachs" CEO David Solomon, who stated that fears of a labor market collapse due to artificial intelligence are exaggerated, explaining that technology will lead to the automation of some jobs, but it will also create a new wave of productivity, innovation, and new job opportunities.