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October brought another round of layoffs, a weak jobs report, and record money flowing into AI startups. Here's what's inside this issue:

Let's get into it. 👇

Stay ahead of the curve with our curated industry updates, news, and expert insights that impact the tech landscape.

Netflix, Amazon, and Airtable cut jobs as "small teams" become the goal

The layoffs kept coming in October. Netflix will lay off about 1,000 people, roughly 6% of its workforce, mostly across product, tech, legal, and HR, in its biggest round since 2022. Amazon reportedly cut fewer than 1,000 white-collar roles in its stores division. And on October 12, a large part of Airtable's team was let go. Its owner, Bending Spoons, said the cuts weren't about people's abilities but about its belief that "small teams ship more and better." Tech layoffs in 2026 have now passed 190,000.

What this means for startups?

When a company says small teams ship more, it's really saying each person's output matters more. That makes every hire count. The upside is that plenty of strong product engineers are on the market right now, and many of them want a smaller team where their work is actually seen.

Hiring slowed sharply in September

The September jobs report, released October 2, showed US employers added just 29,000 jobs, well below the 84,000 economists expected, and unemployment ticked up to 4.2%. August was also revised down to 133,000. Most of the gains came from health care, construction, and manufacturing, while information services lost 10,000 jobs amid worries about AI's impact. Wage growth slowed to 3% a year, the lowest since May 2021.

What this means for startups?

This is a low-hire, low-fire market. Layoffs are still fairly rare overall, but most companies are slow to add headcount. If you're hiring, you're facing less competition for good engineers and have more room on timing and pay, so it's a good moment to move quickly on the roles you really need.

AI startups raised a record number of billion-dollar rounds

Crunchbase's Q3 report, published October 5, shows global venture funding reached $159 billion last quarter, up 53% from a year ago. A record 27 companies raised rounds of $1 billion or more, and AI startups took $102 billion, or 64% of all venture money. Early-stage checks are getting bigger too: half of Series A and B rounds were $100 million or more.

What this means for startups?

Well-funded AI companies are hiring hard and can outbid most startups on salary. If you're competing for the same engineers, a fast process and a clear story about the work matter as much as pay. Looking beyond your own city, for example to Latin America, can also help you find senior people without getting pulled into a bidding war.

Recap of Known and Unknowns: Testing AI-Generated Code, presented by Tampa QA Meetup, Tampa JUG, and Tampa Bay Tech & Beer, and proudly sponsored by iDelsoft.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Known and Unknowns: Testing AI-Generated Code on September 24! We had a packed room of developers, QA engineers, and students at Hillsborough College.

Billy Korando from Oracle showed why asking AI to "write tests" isn't enough, and how spec-driven development, property-based testing, static analysis, and mutation testing cover what you know, what you suspect, and what nobody saw coming.

Big thanks to Tampa QA Meetup, Tampa JUG, and Tampa Bay Tech & Beer for bringing it together, and to Hillsborough College for hosting us. We're proud to keep supporting Tampa's tech community, and we'll see you at the next one! 👋

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That's a wrap for October! Thanks for reading, and see you next month. 👋

The iDelsoft Team