Overview
- A global Mercer survey of executives shows roughly 99% expect AI to lead to at least some layoffs within two years and about 98% are planning organisation design changes to deploy AI more widely.
- Companies have already tied workforce reductions to AI adoption, with industry reports pointing to tens of thousands of job cuts in 2025 and continued tech layoffs into 2026 as firms boost spending on chips, data centres and models.
- Top AI executives including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Google’s Sundar Pichai have publicly rejected a broad ‘jobs apocalypse,’ saying many roles still need a human touch and urging workers to learn AI skills.
- Academic and industry studies find uneven effects: a Stanford working paper observed a roughly 16% relative employment decline for 22–25 year‑olds in the most AI‑exposed occupations, prompting calls to protect early‑career pathways.
- Analysts and commentators say the next phase will be organisational redesign plus policy responses such as targeted training, wage subsidies or tax credits to preserve entry‑level hiring and prevent long‑term loss of workplace training.