Angi and Groupon layoffs: AI-driven cuts without worker protections

In January 2026, Angi, the parent company of Angie's List, announced it was cutting approximately 350 jobs—about 7% of its workforce—to reduce operating expenses and realize what it called 'AI-driven efficiency improvements.' The move cost the company between $22 million and $30 million in severance and related charges (2026 figures per company filings). Just months later, in May 2026, Groupon said it would lay off up to 400 employees, nearly a quarter of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring to become an 'AI-native' company. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company expects the cuts to save it $20–$25 million annually. These are not isolated decisions. They represent a pattern: corporations using artificial intelligence as rationale for mass layoffs while offering no guarantee of retraining, severance beyond legal minimums, or any collective voice for workers. Under current U.S. labor law—already weakened by NLRB rulings that narrow joint-employer status and restrict bargaining over technology-driven terminations—workers have no right to negotiate over automation-related job loss. The Project 2025 blueprint, now largely in execution, calls for further gutting NLRB enforcement and the WARN Act, leaving workers even more exposed. The alternative is straightforward: restore NLRB authority to require employers to bargain over automation-related layoffs; strengthen WARN Act enforcement with real penalties for noncompliance; and demand that companies receiving federal contracts or subsidies negotiate sectoral agreements on retraining and job security. Without these safeguards, the workers cut by Angi and Groupon are just a down payment on a future where AI eliminates jobs—and workers have no seat at the table.