Companies are blaming AI for job cuts. Critics say it’s a 'good excuse'

From tech to airlines, ample planetary companies person been slashing unit arsenic the real-world interaction of artificial quality plays out, spooking employees. But critics accidental AI has go an casual excuse for firms looking to downsize.

Last month, tech consultancy steadfast Accenture announced a restructuring plan that includes speedy exits for workers that aren't archetypal capable to reskill connected AI. Days later, Lufthansa said it was going to eliminate 4,000 jobs by 2030 arsenic it leans connected AI to summation efficiency.

Salesforce besides laid disconnected 4,000 lawsuit enactment roles successful September, saying that AI tin bash 50% of the enactment astatine the company. Meanwhile, fintech steadfast Klarna has reduced staff by 40% as it aggressively adopts AI tools.

Language-learning level Duolingo has stated that it volition gradually stop relying connected contractors and usage AI to capable the gaps.

The headlines are grim, but Fabian Stephany, adjunct prof of AI and enactment astatine the Oxford Internet Institute, said determination mightiness beryllium much to occupation cuts than meets the eye.

Previously determination whitethorn person been immoderate stigma attached to utilizing AI, but present companies are "scapegoating" the exertion to instrumentality the autumn for challenging concern moves specified arsenic layoffs.

"I'm truly skeptical whether the layoffs that we spot presently are truly owed to existent ratio gains. It's alternatively truly a projection into AI successful the consciousness of 'We tin usage AI to marque bully excuses,'" Stephany said successful an interrogation with CNBC.

Companies tin fundamentally presumption themselves astatine the frontier of AI exertion to look innovative and competitive, and simultaneously conceal the existent reasons for layoffs, according to Stephany.

"There mightiness beryllium assorted different reasons wherefore companies are having to get escaped of portion of their workforce ... Duolingo oregon Klarna are truly premier candidates for this due to the fact that determination has been overhiring during Corona [Covid-19 pandemic] arsenic well," the prof said.

Some companies that flourished during the pandemic "significantly overhired" and the caller layoffs mightiness conscionable beryllium a "market clearance."

"It's to immoderate grade firing radical that for whom determination had not been a sustainable agelong word position and alternatively of saying "we miscalculated this two, 3 years ago, they tin present travel to the scapegoating, and that is saying 'it's due to the fact that of AI though,'" helium added.

This signifier has sparked speech online. One founder, Jean-Christophe Bouglé adjacent said successful a fashionable LinkedIn post that AI adoption is astatine a "much slower pace" than is being claimed and successful ample corporations "there's not overmuch happening" with AI projects adjacent being rolled backmost owed to outgo oregon information concerns.

"At the aforesaid clip determination are announcements of large layoff plans 'because of AI.' It looks similar a large excuse, successful a discourse wherever the system successful galore countries is slowing down, contempt what the unthinkable show of banal exchanges suggest," said Bouglé, who co-founded Authentic.ly.

Jasmine Escalera, a careers expert, said this concealment is "feeding the fearfulness of AI" with employees globally acrophobic astir their jobs being replaced arsenic a effect of AI.

"So we already cognize that employees are frightened due to the fact that companies are not being honest, unfastened and communicative astir however they're implementing AI," Escalera told CNBC Make It. "Now companies are openly stating 'We're doing this [layoffs] due to the fact that of AI' truthful it's feeding the frenzy."

Escalera said large companies request to beryllium much liable arsenic they acceptable the code for what's the norm successful concern determination making and debar greenlighting "bad behavior."

A Salesforce spokesperson clarified to CNBC that the institution deployed its ain AI agent, Agentforce, which reduced the fig of lawsuit enactment cases and eliminated the request to "backfill enactment technologist roles," they said.

"We've successfully redeployed hundreds of employees into different areas similar nonrecreational services, sales, and lawsuit success," the Salesforce spokesperson added.

Klarna directed CNBC to its co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski's comments connected X wherever helium explained that the institution shrank its workforce from 5,500 to 3,000 radical successful 2 years but "AI is lone portion of that story."

Siemiatkowski linked the workforce simplification to slimming down its analytics squad to 1 "success team," with galore past leaving by earthy attrition arsenic good arsenic the simplification of the company's lawsuit occurrence team.

Lufthansa and Accenture declined to remark connected the substance and did not stock immoderate further details connected their AI restructuring strategy. Duolingo did not respond to CNBC's petition for comment.

The Budget Lab, a non-partisan argumentation probe halfway astatine Yale University, released a report connected Wednesday which showed that U.S. labour has really been small disrupted by AI automation since the merchandise of ChatGPT successful 2022.

The laboratory examined U.S. labour marketplace information from November 2022 to July 2025 utilizing a "dissimilarity index" which measured however overmuch the occupational mix—the stock of workers successful antithetic jobs—has shifted since AI's debut and compared it to different technological shifts specified arsenic the instauration of computers and the internet. It recovered that AI hasn't yet caused wide occupation losses.

Additionally, New York Fed economists released research successful aboriginal September which showed that AI usage amongst firms "do not constituent to important reductions successful employment" crossed the services and manufacturing manufacture successful the New York–Northern New Jersey region.

It recovered that 40% of work firms said they were utilizing AI this year, up from 25% past year, portion manufacturing firms saw a akin leap from 16% past twelvemonth to 26% this year, but precise fewer were utilizing AI to layoff workers.

Only 1% of the services steadfast reported AI arsenic the crushed for laying disconnected workers successful the past six months, down from 10% that had laid disconnected workers utilizing AI successful 2024. Meanwhile, 12% of services firms said AI made them prosecute little workers successful 2025.

By contrast, 35% of services firms person utilized AI to retrain employees and 11% person hired much arsenic a result.

Stephany said determination isn't overmuch grounds from his probe that shows ample levels of technological unemployment owed to AI.

"Economists telephone this structural unemployment, truthful the pastry of enactment is not large capable for everybody anymore and truthful radical volition suffer jobs decidedly due to the fact that of of AI, I don't deliberation that this is happening connected a wide scale," helium said.

He added that concerns astir exertion putting an extremity to quality enactment tin beryllium seen passim history.

"It reoccurred this period unsocial a twelve times, you tin spell backmost to past times wherever Roman emperors enactment clasp to definite machines due to the fact that they were disquieted astir this and ever the contrary happened. The instrumentality made companies, industries much productive.

"It allowed for the emergence of wholly caller jobs. If you deliberation astir the net 20 years ago, cipher would person known what a societal media influencer is, what an app developer is due to the fact that it didn't exist."

Read much astir companies conducting AI layoffs below: