Pinterest Fires Two Engineers for Tracking Laid-Off Workers During AI Job Cuts
Pinterest fired two engineers. They made software to find out who got laid off in recent cuts. Then they shared the list. This happened as the company cuts 15% of its workers to focus more on AI. Pinterest is a San Francisco company that lets people share images online. It has an office in London too. This month, it announced big layoffs. About 700 people lost their jobs. That’s 15% of the workforce.
CEO Bill Ready said the company is “doubling down on AI.” He wants to use AI to make the app better for users. It will create personal content. It will also help marketers with tools. A former worker shared this on LinkedIn.
But two engineers went too far. They wrote simple code, called scripts. This code looked at private company tools. Those tools are for workers to chat inside the company. The code spotted names of fired people. It showed their locations too. Then the engineers shared this info with others.
A Pinterest spokesperson said this broke company rules. It invaded privacy of ex-workers. BBC reported this from an unnamed source who knows about the firings. It’s not clear if they shared it just inside the company or outside. The engineers’ names are not public.
pinterest fired 2 engineers for writing a script to track who got laid off.
the layoffs were fine but knowing about them wasn't. transparency is a company value until it's inconvenient. pic.twitter.com/Kj2eT3qAdq
— Martin 🏹 (@Martinoleary) February 4, 2026
This shows stress at Pinterest. CEO Ready spoke to all staff. CNBC reported his words. He said debate is okay. But if you fight the company’s AI plan, look for another job. He called it a “critical moment.” Company shares dropped over 20% this year. Investors worry about better AI rivals.
Public reactions on (X) Twitter to this news mostly express frustration and disappointment rather than shock.
One user said the news was “not surprising at all,” suggesting that such developments have become expected and no longer feel unusual.
Not surprising at all.
— Elena Mira (@Elena__Mira) February 4, 2026
Another user echoed this feeling by saying that nothing is surprising anymore, but also criticised Pinterest, implying that the company should have acted more responsibly and shown better judgment instead of firing engineers.
nothing is surprising anymore. but you'd still think pinterest would have more sense than you fire engineers for this…
— Martin 🏹 (@Martinoleary) February 4, 2026
Pinterest is not alone. Tech companies everywhere are cutting jobs for AI. Amazon just cut 16,000 jobs worldwide. It’s their second round in three months. Meta will cut more than 1,000 jobs in its VR team. They want money for AI glasses and phones. Autodesk, a design software company, plans to cut 1,000 jobs too.
Companies spend billions on AI. They hope it saves money and works better. But results are not sure yet. Pinterest’s story warns about rules during tough times. The engineers’ tool was clever. But using private data was wrong.
