Since the adoption of generative AI, fear of being replaced has shifted from dystopian paranoia to a rational workplace concern. So are we all still wondering if AI is taking over jobs?
The data certainly points to yes.
By the end of 2025, Challenger, Gray & Christmas was tracking tens of thousands of U.S. layoffs in which companies cited AI or automation as a factor. At the same time, employers increasingly pointed to AI when announcing cuts or hiring slowdowns, often framing the move as preparation for a near-future workplace with fewer humans on the org chart.
In January 2026, Amazon cut 16,000 jobs, on top of roughly 15,000 it cut in October. In February, Block CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey cut 40% of the company’s workforce, reducing headcount from over 10,000 to just under 6,000. “The core thesis is simple,” Dorsey said in a letter to Block shareholders. “Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.”
So who’s next?
Harvard Business Review tried to separate the hype from the reality in a January 2026 report based on a survey of 1,006 global executives conducted in December 2025. The main takeaway wasn’t that AI is already broadly replacing people. It was that companies are cutting in anticipation of AI’s impact.
In the survey, only 2% of organizations reported large headcount reductions tied to actual AI implementation, while far more reported reductions or slower hiring because they expect AI to change staffing needs later.
CEOs at Amazon, Ford, Salesforce, and JPMorgan Chase have publicly suggested that many white-collar roles could shrink as AI capabilities expand, with risk concentrated in work that’s heavy on repeatable knowledge tasks.
HBR specifically flags areas where layoffs and hiring slowdowns have been linked to gen AI chatter: tech roles, entry-level jobs, customer service, and programming.
Some executives are unusually direct about what they’re optimizing for. Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost told CNBC that revenue per employee is a defining efficiency metric.
“We are absolutely looking at efficiency moving forward,” Anagnost told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street. “We are going to hire less people at Autodesk because of efficiency. We’re certainly seeing engineering efficiency because of AI.”
What Workers Are Saying
Workers are noticing the vibe shift. In a HarrisX poll conducted with Merit America among 3,048 lower-wage workers, 52% said they feel worried about how AI will affect their job, while 56% said they don’t think the U.S. government is ready for the fallout.
“It’s less ‘AI takes your job’ and more ‘someone who uses AI effectively gets your job,’ one user wrote on Reddit.
“It’s definitely going to kill most entry level white collar jobs. That’s happening at my workplace already,” another user said.
How has AI affected your workplace? Let us know in the comments.
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