The AI layoff narrative is missing the real story

The numbers circulating through fintech right now are hard to ignore. Almost 10,000 jobs have been cut across the global sector in 2026 so far. PayPal is eliminating roughly 20% of its workforce. Block has shrunk to fewer than 6,000 employees, and Coinbase cut 14% of its headcount.

Partner at Schwarzwald Capital.

And hovering over all of it is a single explanation, repeated so often that it starts to remind us of a dot-com bubble — artificial intelligence. But is that actually what's happening? And more importantly, does it matter if the story isn't entirely true?

When the story becomes the strategy

AI accounted for 40% of all announced layoffs in May 2026, up from much lower levels earlier in the year. At first glance, it seems like a natural explanation: if the technology handles the routine work better than a human, then why not cut costs?

But...

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