AI Taking Its Toll on Jobs – What to Know

Wave of Layoffs Highlights AI’s Growing Workforce Impact

A surge of corporate layoffs is reshaping the global employment landscape, as major firms cite artificial intelligence (AI) and automation as key drivers behind large-scale job cuts. From Amazon and UPS to Nestlé and Salesforce, tens of thousands of roles are being eliminated not due to economic downturns, but because of a fundamental transformation in how work is organized.

Major Companies Cut Thousands Amid AI Integration-

• Amazon announced on Oct. 28 the elimination of 14,000 corporate positions to stay “nimble.”

• UPS revealed that it had cut 34,000 operational jobs during the first nine months of 2025 as part of its “efficiency reimagined” initiative.

• Nestlé plans to reduce 16,000 roles worldwide over two years, citing a shift toward shared services and automation.

• Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff disclosed in August that 4,000 customer support positions were replaced by AI agents.

These cuts are taking place during a period of corporate profitability signaling not crisis-driven downsizing, but AI-driven structural change.

Cognitive Automation: Replacing the Human Mind, Not Just Hands-

Unlike previous automation waves that replaced manual labor, AI targets cognitive work. It learns, analyzes, and makes decisions automating complex white-collar functions once considered secure.

This dual disruption robotics replacing physical labor and AI replacing analytical roles is transforming both blue-collar and white-collar workforces.

Economic Data Points to Early Stages of AI-Driven Job Displacement-

• A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis report found that generative AI had become embedded across workplaces by early 2023, with adoption linked to rising unemployment in computer and mathematical occupations.

• The Brookings Institution estimates 30% of U.S. jobs could see half their tasks disrupted by AI.

• The McKinsey Global Institute projects up to 54 million U.S. workers could be displaced by automation by 2030.

• Goldman Sachs predicts AI could displace 6–7% of the U.S. workforce, with each percentage-point gain in productivity temporarily raising unemployment by 0.3 percentage points.

Jobs Most at Risk-

A Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study shows that 12.6% of U.S. jobs about 19.2 million positions are at high or very high risk of automation-related displacement.

• 14% of blue-collar jobs

• 12.3% of white-collar jobs

• 12.1% of service-sector jobs

Conversely, roles that require creativity, empathy, or hands-on skill such as clinical work, design, and trades remain comparatively resilient.

AI and the Changing Nature of Skills-

A Harvard Business School paper (Dec. 2024) notes that AI simultaneously reduces demand for certain specialized roles while increasing demand for advanced hybrid skills.

Economist Daron Acemoglu’s research echoes this, showing that firms adopting AI often reduce hiring in traditional roles while increasing requirements for technical and analytical literacy.

Industry experts say the future belongs to those who can work alongside AI, not compete with it.

Expert Perspectives: Adaptation Over Alarm-

Andy Zenkevich, CEO of digital agency Epiic, believes fears of AI-triggered mass unemployment are overstated: “Jobs aren’t disappearing they’re evolving. A copywriter becomes an AI content editor; an analyst becomes a prompt engineer.”

Georgios Koimisis, finance professor at Manhattan University, adds: “Companies aren’t always cutting workers because AI made them redundant. Some layoffs signal to investors that management is modern and efficient.”

Izhar Haq, director at Long Island University, concludes that AI and robotics will continue to redefine work, but a slowing economy and cyclical trends remain part of the picture.

The Takeaway-

AI is reshaping the global job market, not through sudden elimination but through gradual transformation. The rise of cognitive automation means that future-proofing a career will require adaptive learning, hybrid skills, and human-centric capabilities that machines can’t replicate.