Layoff season has become a constant state, defying the most typical formations of cyclical boom and bust periods in the technology sector. Meanwhile, AI is still on the rise, or at least the current version of neural networks trained on large data sets driving developments like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude. One theme continues to emerge in conversations with technologists, executives, industry leaders, and frontline workers from all sides of both trends: specifically, to what extent the rise of AI is complicit in the great and ongoing sacrifice.
Everyone seems to agree that the arrival and adoption of AI is playing some role in at least the extent of layoffs, if not the timing, which is likely attributable to general economic uncertainty. To be sure, companies boast about the efficiency benefits that new AI products can and are bringing to businesses, but few actually mention them in the specific context of layoffs, although news reports that AI replaces at least some of those who lose their jobs is dating despite efforts to keep it a secret.
Salesforce is laying off about 700 people recently, adding to the group it announced it was cutting last year. SAP also announced a massive restructuring, but emphasized that it anticipates the workforce will be the same by the end of the year. This is a big manipulation of the message, but the real story is that these large companies would normally grow year after year, so even constant hiring with restructuring, some acquisitions and replacement hires is a step back from business as usual.
Both companies, and many of the other big tech companies currently experiencing layoffs, have also signaled and/or announced considerable investments in AI to help augment or replace the work currently done by people. Typically, these announcements are accompanied by assurances that automating certain tasks will lead to them being deployed real human resources in roles and jobs much more satisfying, creative and meaningful.
In the long term, that may be the case, but right now it's all about "regrettable" downsizing coupled with massive, budget-busting spending on AI products and innovation, with no silver lining in sight for when roles will spawn. and completely new opportunities for profiles that are leaving or on their way out. Meanwhile, workers have already been displaced.
There are many comforting examples of how generative AI still fails in many ways when it comes to comparing them to real people, but there are just as many, if not more, examples of how people happily use tools like ChatGPT for their real work every day, with results. at least satisfactory, if not better, than what they were capable of before.
Technological revolutions are always disruptive and displace tons of people, but this one seems unique in that the technology it promises not only increases human efficiency in specific roles in every case, but actively replaces an entire function in many cases. . Greater transparency is needed about when AI will fill the roles once held by people as these big companies continue their rollout, but it's unlikely we'll get it in the midst of intense action: it will most likely be studied and will be discovered later by researchers trying to assess the impact.
