#ailayoffs

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/23/options-traders-buy-calls-in-oracle-following-ai-driven-layoffs.html

Nevada Representative Steven Horsford introduced new legislation. This bill mandates companies label AI-related layoffs. It is named the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act. Representatives Sara Jacobs and James Moylan co-sponsored the bill. The legislation requires companies to disclose these layoffs to the Department of Labor.

Washington, D.C.

https://www.kolotv.com/2026/06/22/nevadas-horsford-introduces-mandate-some-layoffs-be-labeled-ai-related/

Oracle workforce shrinks by about 21,000 employees amid AI adoption

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/technology/ai/articles/oracle-workforce-shrinks-13-204431510.html

Oracle's total workforce declined 13%, or about 21,000 employees in fiscal ‌2026, as the cloud computing giant continued ‌restructuring its business, partly driven by the adoption of AI ​across its operations.

The company had a total workforce of 141,000 as of May 31, 2026, compared with about 162,000 as of the same period last ‌year, according to ⁠its annual report released on Monday.

Oracle spent $1.84 billion in severance payments and other ⁠exit costs related to the restructuring activities in fiscal 2026, significantly higher than the $374 million spent in ​the previous ​fiscal year, the ​filing showed.

It also said ‌in its filing that the workforce adjustments were in response to various factors, including management and product changes, performance issues, strategic shifts and acquisitions.

The decline in the workforce follows multiple reports earlier ‌this year about Oracle cutting ​thousands of jobs. The company ​did not immediately ​respond to a Reuters request for ‌comment.

Worries are quickly mounting over ​job losses ​due to AI disruption, as 196 tech companies laid off more than 119,800 employees so ​far this year, ‌according to Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking sector-wide ​job cuts.

Arizona

• Lucid Motors is cutting roughly 1,500 workers, representing about 18% of its U.S. workforce and eliminating a production shift at its Arizona factory, with keywords including electric vehicles, restructuring, cost reduction, and manufacturing.

Massachusetts

• Coca-Cola is closing its Northampton, Massachusetts plant and laying off about 175 workers, with keywords including plant closure, beverage manufacturing, state filing, and workforce reduction.
• Baystate Health has confirmed layoffs affecting an unknown number of workers in western Massachusetts amid a reported $60 million budget shortfall, with keywords including healthcare, budget deficit, nursing concerns, and workforce reduction.

New York

• Novartis is laying off 60 workers at a Flatiron biotech operation in New York following its acquisition of Tourmaline Bio, with keywords including biotechnology, acquisition, pharmaceuticals, and workforce reduction.

Ohio

• Senior Resource Connection will begin mass layoffs affecting 160 workers in Ohio starting June 30, with keywords including nonprofit, workforce reduction, staffing changes, and organizational restructuring.
• Orlando Baking Company is actively hiring as more than 700 Schwebel’s employees in Ohio face upcoming layoffs, with keywords including bakery, hiring, workforce transition, and plant employment.

California

• Kabam is consolidating its Los Angeles office and laying off an unknown number of workers, with keywords including gaming, office consolidation, restructuring, and workforce reduction.
• PlayerUnknown Productions has laid off an unknown number of workers in California after failing to secure sufficient funding, with keywords including gaming, funding shortfall, restructuring, and workforce reduction.

Minnesota

• Minnesota Star Tribune is expected to reduce newsroom staffing by about 15% through layoffs and buyouts in Minnesota, with keywords including media, newsroom cuts, buyouts, and workforce reduction.

Germany

• DB Cargo is eliminating 6,200 jobs in Germany by 2030, with keywords including rail freight, restructuring, long-term workforce reduction, and cost savings.

Company-wide/Location Not Specified

• Electronic Arts has reportedly begun layoffs affecting an unknown number of workers, with keywords including gaming, restructuring, workforce reduction, and corporate changes.
• BlackRock has conducted layoffs affecting an unknown number of workers across investment, technology, operations, and private credit teams, with keywords including asset management, efficiency efforts, restructuring, and workforce reduction.
• Meta employees are reporting morale challenges following layoffs and AI-related restructuring, with keywords including artificial intelligence, organizational change, workforce reduction, and employee relations.

Potential/Unconfirmed Layoffs

• CFPB layoffs remain tied up in federal court proceedings and no final workforce reduction has been confirmed, with keywords including litigation, appeals court, government agency, and proposed cuts.
• Spirit Airlines remains involved in litigation related to prior bankruptcy-era layoffs affecting an unknown number of workers, with keywords including bankruptcy, labor rights, legal dispute, and workforce reduction.
• Tennessee WARN filings have affected about 5,001 workers through announced closures and layoffs statewide in 2026, with keywords including WARN notices, facility closures, workforce reductions, and labor market.
• General Motors previously cut more than 1,000 workers and has introduced additional automation initiatives, with keywords including manufacturing, robotics, restructuring, and workforce reduction.

National/Other Commentary and Analysis

• Forbes examined claims that artificial intelligence is driving layoffs and argued the causes are more complex, with keywords including AI, technology, workforce trends, and analysis.
• HRD America reported research showing layoffs can significantly reduce employee trust in management, with keywords including workplace culture, leadership, morale, and analysis.
• Silicon Valley Business Journal analyzed continuing layoff risks for technology workers despite hiring gains, with keywords including technology, labor market, employment trends, and analysis.
• Built In discussed potential long-term business costs associated with AI-driven layoffs, with keywords including artificial intelligence, workforce strategy, business risk, and analysis.
• Newsweek reported on proposed legislation requiring disclosure of layoff plans during visa applications, with keywords including immigration, legislation, transparency, and policy.
• People Matters, Forbes, Yahoo Life UK, and Let’s Data Science reported survey findings showing most executives expect AI-related workforce reductions in coming years, with keywords including artificial intelligence, executive surveys, workforce planning, and labor trends.
• Quiver Quantitative and KOLO reported on legislation that would require companies to identify AI-related layoffs, with keywords including transparency, worker protections, artificial intelligence, and legislation.
• HR Executive analyzed California employer obligations under emerging AI-related workforce regulations, with keywords including compliance, artificial intelligence, labor law, and workforce planning.
• Inc. Magazine and Wall Street Journal published commentary on AI, job security, and organizational impacts of workforce reductions, with keywords including artificial intelligence, employment, business strategy, and analysis.

https://anz.peoplemattersglobal.com/news/ai-and-emerging-tech/ai-layoffs-expected-by-99percent-of-executives-young-employees-could-be-hit-hardest-survey-50418

Tech CEOs often attribute mass layoffs to AI. A recent Gallup poll indicates only 1% of laid-off workers agree with this. Layoffs have stabilized at 21% after a significant increase since 2022. Remote employees are particularly vulnerable, comprising 25% of surveyed laid-off workers. Thirteen percent of laid-off workers were from the tech industry.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91560409/ceos-blame-ai-for-layoffs-workers-disagree

Expect 4000 to 7000 impacted. More managers and directors. AI bringing efficiency.

Brace for impact. Gather your swags.

Next layoff is soon!

Washington

• Expeditors International is cutting 230 jobs across five Washington locations, with keywords including Bellevue, logistics, WARN notice, workplace restructuring, and a decades-long no-layoff reputation.
• Lavish Roots is laying off 263 Seattle-area catering and corporate dining workers tied to Meta offices, with keywords including cooks, dish machine operators, pastry chefs, lost contract, and supported handoff.

California

• Salesforce is cutting dozens of jobs in San Francisco across Agentforce, MuleSoft, and Marketing Cloud, with keywords including AI revenue, AI agents, business software pressure, and third layoff round in nine months.
• Yolo County supervisors approved 26 layoffs and 124 vacant-position reductions to address a $35 million deficit, with keywords including county budget cuts, workforce reduction, and public-sector layoffs.
• San Francisco and Concord immigration courts are affected by shutdowns, layoffs, and reduced resources, with keywords including immigration court closure, advocacy impact, and case-transfer pressure.
• Los Angeles City Hall moved to halt remaining layoff proceedings after budget uncertainty, with keywords including $96.8 million deficit, CAO Matt Szabo, positions cut, and avoided layoffs.

California and Washington

• Meta layoffs affected managers and software engineers in California and Washington as AI spending rises, with keywords including small teams, AI tools, software engineering, management cuts, and internal restructuring.

Pennsylvania

• UPMC is laying off about 200 employees and eliminating about 300 open positions, with keywords including Pittsburgh, health system, non-clinical roles, non-member-facing roles, and 500 total positions eliminated.

Iowa

• The State of Iowa is laying off more than 200 state IT workers as it privatizes IT management, with keywords including Gov. Kim Reynolds, public employees, IT outsourcing, and state government layoffs.

North Carolina

• DownLite International is shutting down its Union County manufacturing plant and laying off over 100 workers, with keywords including bedding manufacturer, WARN report, plant closure, and manufacturing layoffs.

New York

• The New School announced faculty layoffs framed as rebalancing staffing levels with enrollment and budget needs, with keywords including AAUP, higher education, faculty cuts, staff levels, and budget alignment.

Vermont

• UVM Health is cutting 142 positions as part of restructuring, including 76 permanently eliminated positions and 66 roles to be reposted with revised responsibilities, with keywords including healthcare network, restructuring, and workforce reduction.
• A Vermont dairy products processing operation is eliminating 99 jobs in a separate layoff event, with keywords including dairy processing, plant jobs, Vermont layoffs, and manufacturing-food production.

Colorado

• Colorado School of Mines laid off about 1% of its workforce amid higher education budget pressure, with keywords including university cuts, federal funding pressure, budget crisis, and workforce reduction.

Minnesota

• Mankato Clinic is laying off about 10% of its workforce, roughly just under 100 to 100 employees, with keywords including southern Minnesota, ancillary staff, support staff, leadership, management, and independent clinic.

Oregon

• Portland Public Schools employees and union leaders are pushing back against planned layoffs, with keywords including PPS, school board meeting, contract grievance, teachers union, staffing shortages, and layoff notices.

Wyoming

• St. John's Health in Jackson Hole is trying to avoid layoffs by not refilling vacant positions, with keywords including financial challenges, hiring freeze, attrition, and hospital workforce management.

Massachusetts

• Community Healthlink layoffs tied to a closing Worcester County health provider increased from 84 to 127, with keywords including WARN filings, provider closure, and healthcare layoffs.
• Fall River Public Schools issued layoff notices to 213 educators, though many may be spared, with keywords including 73 teachers at risk, special education, license waivers, and school layoffs.

Tennessee

• Greater Memphis Chamber discussed business wins amid layoffs connected to Kellogg's, with keywords including Memphis, job market transition, business development, and workforce displacement.

Illinois

• A Burr Ridge plant is closing this summer with layoffs expected, with keywords including production consolidation, plant closure, manufacturing workforce cuts, and facility shutdown.

Canada

• Ubisoft is closing its Winnipeg studio as part of a restructuring that could eliminate up to 380 roles, with keywords including studio closure, gaming layoffs, As-----n's Creed, and restructuring.

Serbia

• Ubisoft is closing its Belgrade studio as part of the same restructuring that could eliminate up to 380 roles, with keywords including studio closure, gaming layoffs, consultation process, and restructuring.

Spain

• Ubisoft Barcelona is expected to remain open but is tied to the broader Ubisoft restructuring affecting up to 380 roles, with keywords including Barcelona, consultation, gaming industry, and cost-cutting.

China

• Chinese companies are reportedly using quiet layoffs as AI adoption expands, with keywords including AI replacement, labor law, stability concerns, non-public headcount reduction, and Beijing policy pressure.

India

• Indian IT firms are being discussed in the context of layoffs and hiring cuts tied to AI transformation, with keywords including AI agents, human workers, job replacement, tech hiring cuts, and IT services disruption.

No State or Exact Location Given

• Teva is reportedly laying off 250 workers at its TAPI API unit while searching for a new owner, with keywords including pharma restructuring, active pharmaceutical ingredients, API unit, and $700 million savings plan.
• Kyndryl staff are weighing redundancy packages while executives receive shares, with keywords including enterprise IT services, redundancy, executive compensation, and employee uncertainty.
• FanDuel went through a third layoff round in a year affecting a few hundred employees, with keywords including software engineering, gaming, sports betting, repeated job cuts, and operational restructuring.
• Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning startup reportedly had layoffs for unclear reasons, with keywords including identity tech, AI scapegoat, startup cuts, and workforce reduction.

National/Other Commentary and AI Layoff Analysis

• Klarna and IBM were cited in a broader AI layoff discussion about companies reducing headcount without clear return gains, with keywords including AI layoff trap, quality issues, judgment issues, and reversed layoffs.
• Palantir CEO Alex Karp said Palantir plans to freeze hiring rather than conduct sweeping AI layoffs, with keywords including AI productivity, hiring freeze, executive messaging, and workforce leverage.
• Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale warned that some companies may use AI as a justification for layoffs actually driven by other issues, with keywords including AI excuse, executive claims, and workforce cuts.
• Boston University research warned that AI-driven layoffs could hurt workers and firms if lost paychecks reduce consumer spending, with keywords including AI layoff trap, demand erosion, macroeconomic risk, and worker displacement.
• Google DeepMind economist Alex Imas said AI is not yet causing a jobs bloodbath but warned of a possible layoff cascade, with keywords including AI pressure, adaptation, labor market risk, and future layoffs.

I feel sad, guilty and burdened. I didn’t choose HR as a career to ruin lives or to help a greedy, mismanaged company do bad deeds. This is not meant to scare and I am fearful to post as I am under NDA but I need to help if I can. In a few weeks there will be another layoff. If you are over 50, overpaid, under performing, or your function can be AI replaced you are at risk. Please be prepared. I will not log into this site again, and I will not be able to provide any more information. I am praying for all of you who may be impacted.

Layoffs are expected to accelerate this near into next as the company shifts to AI. Several "reorgs" in waves to be expected according to insiders close to SF. Interest rates are not coming down as quickly as expected and this is putting pressure on not being able to refinance the debt load at lower rates as wages pressures and benefit costs accelerate.

All Health Insurance companies will accomplish by leveraging AI over human being workforce is to provide a lesser quality of services and product to whom should be their customer base.

Will AI save corporations millions if not billions of dollars, which will make shareholders money and also C-suite executives bonuses.

But at the cost of it membership having a lesser, albeit cheaper, quality of services.

Problem is, all Health Insurance corporations consider shareholders to be their customer, not their membership. That is the problem with allowing public stock traded corporations to administer government funded products, such as Medicare.

All Health Insurance companies will accomplish by leveraging AI over human being workforce is to provide a lesser quality of services and product to whom should be their customer base.

Will AI save corporations millions if not billions of dollars, which will make shareholders money and also C-suite executives bonuses.

But at the cost of it membership having a lesser, albeit cheaper, quality of services.

Problem is, all Health Insurance corporations consider shareholders to be their customer, not their membership. That is the problem with allowing public stock traded corporations to administer government funded products, such as Medicare.

All Health Insurance companies will accomplish by leveraging AI over human being workforce is to provide a lesser quality of services and product to whom should be their customer base.

Will AI save corporations millions if not billions of dollars, which will make shareholders money and also C-suite executives bonuses.

But at the cost of it membership having a lesser, albeit cheaper, quality of services.

Problem is, all Health Insurance corporations consider shareholders to be their customer, not their membership. That is the problem with allowing public stock traded corporations to administer government funded products, such as Medicare.

All Health Insurance companies will accomplish by leveraging AI over human being workforce is to provide a lesser quality of services and product to whom should be their customer base.

Will AI save corporations millions if not billions of dollars, which will make shareholders money and also C-suite executives bonuses.

But at the cost of it membership having a lesser, albeit cheaper, quality of services.

Problem is, all Health Insurance corporations consider shareholders to be their customer, not their membership. That is the problem with allowing public stock traded corporations to administer government funded products, such as Medicare.

All that Humana and other Health Insurance companies will accomplish by leveraging AI over human being workforce is to provide a lesser quality of services and product to whom should be their customer base.

Will AI save corporations millions if not billions of dollars, which will make shareholders money and also C-suite executives bonuses.

But at the cost of it membership having a lesser, albeit cheaper, quality of services.

Problem is that Humana and all Health Insurance corporations consider shareholders to be their customer, not their membership. That is the problem with allowing public stock traded corporations to administer government funded products, such as Medicare.

Hey AML personnel, why are we letting them step all over us? Threatening to fire us if we don’t meet production. Implementing AI that doesn’t work. At the end of the day (well probably year) we will be laid off for the AI we are ultimately training. Let’s stop doing so much. We can only do what we can do!!! Layoffs are inevitable, and you know that.

Over 100 tech companies cut more than 115,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026. This trend is fueling a new wave of one-person startups. Qu Xiaoyin, founder of HeyBoss.AI, helps individuals build businesses using AI "executives". AI tools now handle tasks like coding, marketing, and customer support. This significantly lowers the cost and team size needed to launch a company.

Redwood City, California

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/ai-linked-layoffs-us-spark-new-wave-one-person-start-ups

A new Mercer study reveals 99% of surveyed CEOs anticipate AI-related job reductions. These cuts are expected within the next two years. Entry-level workers face the highest risk of displacement. Some companies like Meta and Amazon have already cited AI for recent layoffs. However, consumer AI usage remains low, and some firms find AI implementation costly.

https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/99-ceos-planning-ai-layoffs-173000476.html

90% of us will be replaced by AI by 2031. I'm retiring in 2030, but what about everyone else who is under 50? What's your plan??

Earlier this year, Meta cut thousands of employees and told investors the reductions were necessary to fund its AI ambitions. The company redirected that payroll into infrastructure, researchers, and models designed to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Mark Zuckerberg called it the most important investment Meta would ever make.

The first real test of whether that trade-off is working just arrived , and the answer is not straightforward.

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-meta-face-first-164700000.html

Did anyone else catch the call this morning talking about locations being closed (context seemed to apply to store and offices). They said they are creating ai gems to define profitability and determine if neighboring locations would absorb customers.

There's no winning.

As we know big companies are already laying off people for AI. What about companies like Cigna? Is it matter of time before they use AI as the reason ?

A full year of continuous layoffs is something rarely seen at this scale. Many companies underestimated the value of experienced employees and overestimated AI’s ability to replace them. The biggest mistake is believing technology alone can replace knowledge, judgment, and human expertise.

Laying off skilled employees just because of AI may become one of the biggest mistakes made by many CEOs. AI is a tool, not a complete replacement for human expertise. Companies that remove experienced workers too quickly risk losing knowledge, innovation, quality, and customer trust while facing growing AI costs and mistakes. The smartest strategy is to use AI to support employees, not replace them entirely.

MGO spent millions on their conference a couple of weeks back. The L4 and up crew gets paid trips each year to have fancy retreats. We have people flying in for some stupid Leadership summit, and spend so much on things that do not really matter.

Redirect these kumbaya events into actual products and services, Mr. Stankey.. or just use that to pay / keep people instead of firing them in the name of AI savings.

The author criticizes tech CEOs for mass layoff decisions. He argues against replacing employees with artificial intelligence. The article highlights flaws in current leadership strategies. Many leaders are misguidedly following this layoff trend. The author urges a reevaluation of these workforce reduction tactics.

https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/the-flaws-in-mass-layoffs-for-ai-productivity-are-beyond-obvious-now/91351132

https://www.bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368/

Fear of AI is at an all-time high. Not fear of a Skynet-style superintelligent singularity seizing power, generally speaking, but of something perhaps just as horrifying: that life under capitalism continues much as it always has, with one key difference — AI has made human labor obsolete.

A new survey by consulting firm Mercer polled nearly 1,000 executives across the United States. A jaw-dropped 98 percent of them said they have major organization design changes in the works around AI, while 99 percent expect AI will lead to layoffs over the next two years.

The Mercer report, first covered by TechSpot, also found a collapse in worker wellbeing as talk of AI dominates break rooms. In 2024, Mercer worker’s sentiment found 66 percent of employees surveyed said they are “thriving” in the workplace. By 2026, that number had fallen to just 44 percent.

At the same time, the number of workers who report being “unsatisfied” has skyrocketed, with over 20 percent of workers surveyed admitting they’re “unsatisfied but… don’t have a choice at this point and will be staying for the next 12 months​.”

How human resources managers plan to combat this workplace fatigue — symptomatic of a rapidly decaying labor market, not to mention stagnant wages across the board — is equally alarming. In the next two years, 49 percent of HR professionals say incorporating worker sentiments with behavioral data will become “critical” to managing labor on the job. A further 44 and 43 percent said the same of always-on surveillance platforms and AI chatbots, respectively.

To the business owners and corporatists of the world, this is the point of AI: to discipline human labor. That’s the large-scale economic process by which capitalists undermine workers’ bargaining power, through systemic mechanisms like debt, the so-called gig economy, unemployment, deskilling — and, according to some theorists, even the nuclear family.

In the workplace and outside of it, AI boosts these mechanisms, eroding workers’ power to demand change or even hold onto basic concessions like healthcare and pensions — labor rights begrudgingly pried from corporations after decades of workplace struggle.

The technology doesn’t even need to be particularly effective to achieve any of this. Business leaders like Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke are already using AI to squeeze more value from their workers, while venture capitalists use it to pry equity back from theirs. In some cases, managers are even using AI chatbots to decide who to fire.

In all, the picture is pretty grim. The richest men and women in the world have made it abundantly clear why they want AI. The tech may not be living up to their wild expectations quite yet, but they’re still unleashing it without hesitation. The only question is how workers respond now, before that hellish dystopia we all fear becomes our reality.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/99-percent-ceos-workers-ai-survey

You may now understand why employees' dissatisfaction at Dell sunk and will keep sinking.

San Francisco-based Webflow announced layoffs on Wednesday. Employees were abruptly locked out of company accounts without warning. CEO Linda Tong stated AI tools transformed website development. This prompted a difficult decision to restructure the team. The exact number of affected workers remains unclear.

San Francisco, California

https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/webflow-layoffs-tech-san-francisco-22279561.php

AI adoption continues to drive layoffs across the technology sector. Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle have publicly linked job cuts to AI. Meta reportedly eliminated 8,000 roles in an AI-focused restructuring. Meanwhile, demand for cybersecurity experts has surged significantly. Organizations are bolstering security teams due to AI vulnerability risks.

https://letsdatascience.com/news/cybersecurity-hiring-surges-amid-ai-driven-tech-layoffs-58b7acb5

Tech Firms and Large Employers just now realizing cost of compute is higher than paying human workers.
Nvidia VP Bryan Catanzaro told Axios that for his team, compute costs now run far beyond what his employees cost. Uber's CTO burned through his entire 2026 AI budget on coding tools alone — and that was by April. (Axios)
OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger claimed that his team spent more than $1.3 million in token costs in just a single month. Because of this, it’s now apparent that using AI is more expensive than hiring people, especially since it offers only limited productivity gains at the moment.
Despite no clear evidence of AI improving productivity and no widespread data supporting the idea of AI displacing jobs, big tech firms have committed $740 billion in AI capital expenditures this year — a 69% jump from 2025. That spending has coincided with more than 92,000 tech layoffs in 2026 so far. (Fortune) So companies are simultaneously spending more on AI, laying people off, and discovering the math doesn't pencil out the way they projected.

We will be no exception. Make sure you're prepared for when it happens, because this will be one situation when finding something new will be nearly impossible, with all the workers flooding the job market.

Cold....hard.....facts. Their massive AI Infrastructure-Related Securities Suit aside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zECyMRI8sV4

I mean, once AI gets exposed as an overhyped, expensive, hallucinating toy?

Survey reveals that 99% of CEOs now expect AI-driven layoffs — companies are racing to replace junior workers with AI, even as many executives remain uncertain about the returns on AI investments | Tom's Hardware

Survey reveals that 99% of CEOs now expect AI-driven layoffs — companies are racing to replace junior workers with AI, even as many executives remain uncertain about the returns on AI investments

A recent study by consulting firm Mercer has revealed that an unprecedented 99% of CEOs envision AI-driven layoffs in the short term. The survey, which covered 12,000 C-suite executives, HR leaders, employees, and investors, showed that an overwhelming majority of executives expect AI "to lead to at least some headcount reduction in the next two years." At the same time, work and economic anxiety are increasing among employees, while workplace well-being has plummeted, with the portion of workers reporting that they "feel good at work" dropping from 66% in 2024 to just 44%.

The report also revealed that young professionals, aged 22 to 27, face the highest risk of job displacement as CEOs target simple tasks that typically served to train new hires. Because generative AI excels at codifiable, routine entry-level tasks, companies are slowing down traditional junior hiring pipelines. Standard Chartered recently announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs to replace ‘lower-value human capital’ and focus on automation.

Confirming the trend is another report from the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, based on a global survey of CEOs. The Oliver Wyman report revealed that the number of companies actively reducing junior/entry-level roles spiked from 17% to 43% in a single year due to automation.

Whether massive AI adoption and the resulting trends are worth it remains to be seen. Around 40,000 tech industry employees lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2026. Despite such trends, the Mercer report found that only 32% of surveyed executives believe their companies can effectively combine human labor with AI systems, even as they heavily push for AI to maximize return on investment.

Oliver Wyman’s report shows that AI was a top-three priority for most CEOs, with more 90% confirming the deployment or intention to deploy AI in their companies. Conversely, more than 50% say they can’t yet tell whether this AI deployment is actually delivering on the expected productivity gains.

A mere 27% of CEOs said the return on AI investment had actually met or exceeded expectations, down from 38% the previous year. Nearly 25% said they had seen absolutely no impact on revenue. The report suggests that the realities of redesigning entire workflows may be curbing AI enthusiasm, even as the worrisome trends continue.

While massive corporations like Amazon, Accenture, and Meta continue to announce thousands of job cuts tied to automation, macroeconomic data reveal a more complex narrative. Data highlighted by Fortune shows that automation-driven layoffs have frequently failed to deliver promised financial returns or measurable productivity gains.

Another interesting narrative is an AI smokescreen. Reports from labor analysts like Challenger, Gray & Christmas indicate that while AI is the most frequently cited reason for job cuts, many experts believe tech CEOs are using AI as a smokescreen to mask deeper internal struggles, corrections to overhiring, and shifts toward outsourcing.

In many ways, the reports paint a picture of a corporate world charging headfirst into an AI transformation it barely understands. Companies are cutting entry-level roles that traditionally trained the next generation of workers, even as many executives privately admit they still cannot prove the technology delivers meaningful returns. If the trend continues, an entire generation could find itself shut out of the traditional career pipeline altogether — trapped in a labor market that increasingly demands experience while simultaneously eliminating the jobs designed to provide it.

Proponents argue that humanity as a whole has always emerged unscathed and better off after massive technological revolutions, despite initial fears and shake-ups. On the other hand, opponents argue that a zoomed-in view of the actual impact such changes have is necessary for ethical implementation. We recently reported that a Chinese court ruled that companies cannot replace workers simply because “AI can do a better job.”

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/survey-reveals-that-99-percent-of-ceos-now-expect-ai-driven-layoffs-companies-are-racing-to-replace-junior-workers-with-ai-even-as-many-executives-remain-uncertain-about-the-returns-on-ai-investments

👍

its all going away.