We’re entering the second half of the year, when companies begin to compare projected charts with actual earnings and expenses and reevaluate. Job cuts become more frequent at this time of year, as companies often look to balance the profit scales, and another wave of mass layoffs has hit Texas.
Nearly 600 Texans have been hit by mass layoff notices since the start of July – a slight decline from June, when 1,200 workers in the state lost their jobs. But there are still two weeks left in the month.
Banks in North Texas seem to be heavily impacted this year. JPMorgan Chase laid off 244 employees in Plano last month, shuttering a call center. Now, Fifth Third Bank, a banking company that acquired Comerica earlier this year, is sending 115 Texas workers to the unemployment line between September 11 and January 29, 2027.
“All affected employees have been notified of their separation dates and that their separation from employment will be permanent,” a letter from the bank to the Texas Workforce Commission states.
The video game development industry, which has been booming in Texas over the past decade or so, has also been taking a serious hit. Microsoft announced it was cutting 4,800 jobs, with many affected at Xbox, as it “reset” its gaming division.
ZeniMax Media, owned by Microsoft and publishing games through its popular game studios such as Bethesda Games, is cutting 158 jobs across Richardson, Austin and remote positions.
Employees were notified of the job cuts on July 6 and are expected to work their last day with the company on September 4. Roughly 145 of the affected employees are represented by a union, Communication Workers of America, and the company vows to enter into bargaining with the representatives.
“ZeniMax Media … has decided to reorganize and restructure operations resulting in the elimination of 158 positions in Texas,” a mass layoff notice from the company states.
At the start of 2026, Meta Platforms (the parent company of Facebook) also cut 1,000 jobs, and Texas workers in the gaming industry were hit hard. Twisted Pixel, formerly based in a swanky office on South Congress Avenue, was removed from Meta’s payroll. That’s the company behind viral games and collaborations, including a Deadpool virtual reality game produced in partnership with Marvel Studios, in which Neil Patrick Harris voiced the lead.
Baker Hughes Company, an energy technology and oilfield services company, announced a workforce reduction that will affect 147 employees in manufacturing, engineering, materials, purchasing and support. These positions will be eliminated at the Houston location, 9100 Emmott Road, between July 1 and April 30 of next year.
Charter Communications, a connectivity provider and the mass media company behind Spectrum, is also cutting 112 jobs in Austin, including network engineers and managers.