Palo Alto Networks cut 500 positions just one day after completing its $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk. The timing was jarring but predictable: when two cybersecurity companies merge, overlapping sales, marketing, and engineering teams are immediately redundant.
Cybersecurity has been one of the few tech sectors that maintained hiring through the 2022-2023 downturn, making 2026's cuts feel particularly abrupt. Both Palo Alto and CrowdStrike (500 cuts separately) have now reduced headcount, signaling that even the security sector is not immune to the efficiency pressure sweeping tech.