Originally published on DropThe.org.
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$7.8M
Meta AI Spend Per Job Cut
90%
Firms Report Zero AI Impact on Jobs (NBER)
$660B
Big 4 AI Spend in 2026
Meta is reportedly preparing to cut up to 20% of its workforce — roughly 16,000 positions — while simultaneously committing $115-135 billion to AI infrastructure in 2026 alone. Amazon already cut 16,000 in January and may cut another 14,000 by May. Block halved its staff in February. In each case, AI was cited as the justification.
We ran the numbers on what these companies are actually spending per eliminated position. The results don’t support the narrative that AI is replacing workers. They suggest something more uncomfortable: companies are cutting costs to fund a bet that hasn’t paid off yet, and calling it transformation.
The DropThe AI Replacement Cost Index 2026
A simple calculation: divide each company’s annual AI infrastructure budget by the number of jobs cut. The result is the AI cost per job eliminated — how much the company is spending on AI for every position it removes.
This is not what AI literally costs to replace one worker. It is the ratio that reveals whether the spending and the cuts are proportional, or whether something else is going on.
| Company | 2026 AI Capex | Jobs Cut (2026) | AI Cost Per Job | Years of Salary Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $200B | 16,000 (phase 1) | $12.5M | 56 years |
| Meta | $125B (midpoint) | ~16,000 (planned) | $7.8M | 31 years |
| Alphabet | $180B (midpoint) | TBD | — | — |
| Microsoft | $120B+ | TBD | — | — |
| Big 4 Combined | $660B | ~55,000 (industry Q1) | $12M | 48 years |
Amazon is spending $12.5 million in AI infrastructure for every job it eliminates. At an average corporate compensation of $224,000, that is 56 years of salary. Meta‘s ratio is $7.8 million per position — 31 years at the company’s median total comp of $280,000.
No company recovers 31 years of salary by firing one person. The math only works if the AI spending and the layoffs serve entirely different purposes — which, according to the evidence, they do.
What the Layoffs Actually Look Like
This is an excerpt. Read the full analysis with charts and data on DropThe.org
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