When Pinterest and Dow introduced layoffs final month, they attributed the job cuts partly to a shift to synthetic intelligence — an indication that some employers are stepping up their funding in AI as they pare their payrolls.
Though economists have usually downplayed the influence thus far of generative AI on the broader U.S. workforce, which will provide little consolation to the workers who immediately discover themselves out of labor as corporations tout their adoption of such instruments.
In 2025, corporations instantly pointed to their use of AI in asserting 55,000 job cuts — greater than 12 occasions the variety of layoffs attributed to AI simply two years earlier, in keeping with outplacement agency Challenger, Grey and Christmas. Of these job losses, 51,000 have been in tech, with many of the cuts concentrated in tech-heavy states equivalent to California and Washington.
After years of pouring cash into AI in a bid to spice up effectivity and productiveness, corporations are beneath stress to show the positive aspects, Challenger, chief income officer of Challenger, Grey and Christmas, advised CBS Information.
“Which means jobs being changed with synthetic intelligence,” he mentioned.
Amazon is without doubt one of the tech giants turning to AI. In 2025, CEO Andy Jassy mentioned in a memo that he anticipated the e-commerce large to shrink its variety of white-collar jobs as the corporate invests in AI “brokers” over the subsequent few years in quest of effectivity positive aspects.
“We are going to want fewer folks doing among the jobs which might be being executed at the moment, and extra folks doing different varieties of jobs,” Jassy mentioned on the time.
Amazon mentioned in January that it was slicing 16,000 jobs, however did not explicitly point out its use of AI in a memo to workers.
In contrast, Pinterest framed the cuts as a technique to redirect sources towards increasing its AI techniques and capabilities.
Different corporations have not explicitly talked about AI of their layoffs bulletins, however have famous that they’re ramping up their use of expertise and automation.
A handy excuse?
The flurry of layoff bulletins comes as economists attempt to get a learn on how AI will reshape America’s workforce — a fast-moving goal given the explosion in AI utilization throughout the financial system.
Ben Might, director of world macro analysis at funding advisory agency Oxford Economics, mentioned in a current report that whereas some jobs are doubtlessly uncovered to AI, most employers do not look like changing a big variety of employees with AI.
He additionally recommended one thing else — that corporations may very well be utilizing AI as a pretext for job cuts.
“We suspect some companies are attempting to decorate up layoffs as a excellent news story slightly than a nasty one — for instance, by pointing to technological change as an alternative of previous overhiring,” he mentioned.
Lisa Simon, chief economist at Revelio Labs, which collects and analyzes public labor market information, additionally suspects that some corporations are pointing to their use of AI to rationalize layoffs.
“Firms need to eliminate departments that now not serve them,” she mentioned. “And I believe, for now, AI is a bit of little bit of a entrance and an excuse.”
She posits that the expertise is having extra of an influence on hiring than layoffs, with corporations pulling again as they notice they will do extra with much less.
Challenger mentioned he expects AI-related layoff notices to maintain coming. “This technological innovation, I believe, it is going to have an effect on just about each trade,” he mentioned.
Firms which have introduced AI-related cuts
Pinterest
The San Francisco-based firm introduced in January that it plans to chop 15% of its workforce, with a spokesperson telling CBS Information that the social media firm is “making organizational adjustments to additional ship on our AI-forward technique, which incorporates hiring AI-proficient expertise.”
Dow
Dow, an American chemical and plastics producer, mentioned final month that it’s eliminating roughly 4,500 jobs because it steps up its use of AI and automation.
Certainly and Glassdoor
The profession providers companies, each owned by Recruit Holdings, introduced final yr that they have been slashing a complete of roughly 1,300 jobs. In an e-mail to workers, Recruit Holdings CEO Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba mentioned that “AI is altering the world” and that the corporate should adapt accordingly.
Chegg
In October 2025, on-line schooling help platform Chegg mentioned it was eliminating 45% of its workforce because it faces the “new realities of AI” and diminished site visitors from Google.
CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike CEO and co-founder George Kurtz mentioned final yr that the cybersecurity firm was slicing about 500 positions because it leans into AI. “We’re working in a market and expertise inflection level, with AI reshaping each trade, accelerating threats, and evolving buyer wants,” he wrote in an organization memo.
HP
In November 2025, HP mentioned in an earnings announcement that the pc and software program maker anticipated to scale back its world headcount by 4,000 to six,000 workers — a part of a wider firm initiative to extend productiveness by utilizing AI. The corporate additionally mentioned the restructuring would web $1 billion in financial savings by the tip of fiscal yr 2028.
Workday
Workday, which runs a cloud-based platform that helps corporations handle HR and finance, mentioned in February 2025 that it will get rid of roughly 1,750 jobs. CEO Carl Eschenbach cited AI within the restructuring announcement.
“Firms in every single place are reimagining how work will get executed, and the rising demand for AI has the potential to drive a brand new period of development for Workday,” he wrote. “This creates an enormous alternative for us, however we have to make some adjustments to higher align our sources with our clients’ evolving wants.”
