Working remotely puts you at higher layoff risk

Remote workers – A Gallup poll finds only 1% of laid-off workers blame AI, even as layoffs have leveled off at 21% after surging between 2022 and 2025. The data points to remote work as a vulnerability: 25% of laid-off workers were fully remote, and return-to-office mandates a

For people who expected the “new normal” of remote work to last, the latest round of job cuts lands with an extra sting: the work arrangement that once felt like flexibility can also make a job easier to remove.

A Gallup poll puts numbers to that fear. Layoffs have leveled off at 21% after nearly tripling between 2022 and 2025. and the survey finds that only 1% of laid-off workers agree that AI is to blame for mass layoffs. In the same data, remote employees look more exposed than their peers—25% of surveyed laid-off workers were fully remote.

Hybrid and on-site remote-capable workers show similarly high risk, with layoff rates tracking those remote figures rather than staying lower. The job market’s tighter feel is part of the pressure, and the poll says tech jobs and federal government work are especially susceptible.

Return-to-office mandates are part of the story, too. A 2024 BambooHR survey found that a quarter of surveyed executives said return-to-work (RTO) mandates were an excuse to spark voluntary turnover. The implication is practical: cut remote positions. point to RTO. and let employees opt out—rather than laying off at full visible scale.

Most surveyed workers said employers are hiring rather than cutting roles. Tech, however, is the exception.

In the BambooHR survey, 13% of laid-off workers previously worked in the tech industry. The tech timeline is also blunt. In May 2026, Meta cut nearly 8,000 roles, while other tech giants like Microsoft and Snap have made similar moves.

Cloudflare’s case is even more direct about why leaders think cuts were necessary. After cutting roughly 20% of their staff, Cloudflare cofounders Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn pinned the decision on a company shift toward AI.

Federal government workers report a harsher reality than others in public sector roles. The survey says 38% of federal government employees believe their employer is letting workers go, while state and local government employees are more confident in the stability of workforce size.

One more detail sharpens the tension between what workers believe and what executives are doing. Most polled workers cited cost-cutting. restructuring. and role elimination as reasons for layoffs—explanations that line up with how downturns and reorgs typically get justified. But the survey also points to AI as a possible undercurrent. especially given how quickly AI buildout has accelerated infrastructure needs in the tech industry.

Even where people don’t regularly use AI, the data suggests job vulnerability may be higher. According to the survey, laid-off workers were 62% more likely than employed workers to avoid AI use. That pattern holds across various ages. education levels. and industries—making the relationship between AI use and job survival feel less like a niche concern and more like a broad shift in what employers expect from workers.

Between the Gallup poll’s near-consensus that AI isn’t the workers’ main explanation and the leadership statements that explicitly tie cuts to AI—alongside executives’ willingness to use RTO mandates to encourage turnover—the layoff picture looks less like a single cause and more like a set of overlapping pressures.

As layoffs settle at 21% after a rapid rise from 2022 to 2025, the question for many employees isn’t whether companies are talking about AI. It’s whether the practical targets—remote, hybrid, and remote-capable roles—are where decisions get translated into reductions first.

remote work layoffs AI blamed layoffs Gallup poll 1% AI BambooHR 2024 RTO mandates return-to-work voluntary turnover tech job cuts Meta May 2026 8000 roles Cloudflare cofounders Matthew Prince Michelle Zatlyn cut 20% federal government layoffs 38% state local confidence AI use and job risk 62%