If you\u2019ve been doomscrolling LinkedIn and wondering whether a robot stole everyone\u2019s job this year, here\u2019s some mildly comforting news: it mostly didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, companies cut about 1.1 million jobs this year, the worst bloodbath since the COVID-era layoffs, but AI was directly blamed for only around 55,000 of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s less than one percent, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. (Via: Gizmodo)<\/p>\n
Still, AI has become the villain of choice. Tech companies in particular have leaned hard into the narrative that layoffs are part of a sleek, futuristic \u201cmodernization\u201d effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Amazon started prepping cuts in June, CEO Andy Jassy told employees AI would mean \u201cfewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to October, after 14,000 people were shown the door, and Jassy told investors the decision wasn\u2019t really AI-driven, \u201cnot right now at least.\u201d<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean AI hasn\u2019t cost anyone work. Companies like Salesforce have openly bragged about replacing humans with automation, claiming AI now handles up to 50 percent of certain workloads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the bigger effect isn\u2019t mass firings, it\u2019s hiring freezes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Entry-level roles are quietly disappearing as companies convince themselves that a chatbot can do a junior employee\u2019s job, even when it absolutely cannot.<\/p>\n
Adding to the irony, an MIT study published this summer found that 95 percent of organizations running AI initiatives have seen zero financial return. That\u2019s right: no profit, plenty of PowerPoint decks.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s really happening? In many cases, companies overhired during the pandemic boom and are now trimming payroll as margins tighten.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others are feeling the effects of economic turbulence tied to tariffs from the Donald Trump era.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manufacturing alone has lost nearly 60,000 jobs this year, despite massive data center construction projects nationwide. Spoiler: AI didn\u2019t swing the axe there.<\/p>\n
In fact, Challenger\u2019s data shows layoffs blamed on restructuring were more than double those blamed on AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cuts tied to market conditions were four times higher, and government efficiency-related cuts were nearly six times higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"