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By Mark DeCambre

As Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon prepare to report quarterly results, workforce cuts are raising questions about how AI will reshape jobs at the top-tier tech companies

Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella, shown speaking last week at a Microsoft event near Paris, on Monday offered voluntary buyouts to about a quarter of the company's global workforce.

👀 Here's what I'm watching this morning: Stocks bounced back Monday after a rough stretch for tech shares. Whether that momentum carries into Tuesday is less clear, with the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision coming Wednesday and a round of earnings reports due.

But there's another matter that I've been thinking about: What will the American workforce look like as companies pour billions into AI?

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about a quarter of its staff, or 60,000 eligible employees. It's hardly the first big company to look for ways to shrink its workforce. And while we don't know how much, if any, of this is attributable to AI, I wonder whether we're seeing the early stages of a broader rethink of how many people companies need, and what they'll need those people to do.

Corporate results from Microsoft and Alphabet on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday, may give us more clues about how these companies now think about hiring and productivity.

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Three stories worth your time ...

-- Two stock picks to capitalize on Wall Street's misguided AI fears

-- Opinion: With the Anthropic IPO, the devil is in the details

-- A possible DoorDash-Instacart deal is all about keeping up with Walmart and Amazon, analysts say

🎅🏽On markets: Wall Street may be getting ahead of itself with talk of an early "Santa Claus" rally. But columnist Mark Hulbert explains why October and November don't qualify, and when the real seasonal rally is supposed to arrive.

🏠On trading: Stock-market futures (ES00) (NQ00), on the heels of the best day on Wall Street in three weeks, looked set for further gains as investors appeared to take inspiration from reported comments by Iran's supreme leader on prospective postwar conditions. The beleaguered housing market will be in the spotlight, as appliance maker Whirlpool (WHR) said it expects to report a loss this year, while data on new-home sales and house prices are set for release.

-- Check out our live markets coverage

-- Options traders are seizing control of the S&P 500

-- These energy stocks are poised to profit from an imminent AI power crunch

Overlooked opticals ...

Lumentum's stock jumped Monday.

??Optical-connectivity stocks are staging a comeback after last week's tech selloff. Lumentum's stock (LITE) led the S&P 500's gainers Monday, while rivals Coherent (COHR) and Ciena (CIEN) weren't far behind. Britney Nguyen explains why this often overlooked corner of the tech industry is seeing renewed interest.

Curtains for COLA?

How to save Social Security?

👩🏽?💻 Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment is crucial for seniors to keep up with inflation. But the COLA may face a major revamp in the coming years to stave off insolvency. Alessandra Malito explores some of the options that may be on the table for lawmakers.

Hers, mine and ours ...

Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch's Moneyist.

A husband eyeing retirement is appalled that his wife, who ran the household, has a measly amount in her 401(k). Leave it to The Moneyist to explain that marriage is a joint effort, and how her true contributions to the family might not be reflected in her retirement fund.

5 big $ midterm issues ...

The Nov. 3 elections are likely to affect people's finances.

?The midterm elections are fast approaching. Victor Reklaitis and Robert Schroeder lay out the five biggest election issues nationwide, from gas prices to data centers, that will end up having an effect on your wallet.

Winning the money game ...

Christopher Jackson went from the football field to the classroom.

🧮Meet the man who went from the NFL to teaching financial literacy to high-school kids, even helping them open Roth IRAs. It's all part of a growing national effort to instill good money habits and help young adults navigate an increasingly complicated financial world full of debt hazards, betting apps and "finfluencers," writes Genna Contino.

-- TikTok parent ByteDance's chatbot is now giving travel-booking sites a run for their money. And yours.

-- Opinion: The house, the kids' college and the raise: Where people in their 30s and 40s go wrong

-- McDonald's new bet on chicken hits a snag as franchisees say the birds are too big

-- This strategist says it's a matter of when, not if, the AI bubble pops. Here's how to prepare for that.

-- Retail investors are getting cold feet about stocks, just when the market needs them most

About Me

Mark DeCambre is editor in chief of MarketWatch. He has spent more than 20 years covering Wall Street, markets and personal finance, and writes Need to Know, drawing on the award-winning analysis and journalism of the newsroom.

-Mark DeCambre

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10-27-26 0731ET