What’s really happening in the tech job market as a result of artificial intelligence tools?
Why are there so many recent job cuts by top tech companies?
Where is this trend taking us in the public and private sectors?
Given generative AI advances, what can you do to maintain or grow more successful in your career?
These are just a few of the questions that I am getting both online and in person as I travel the country. But before we get to some answers, let’s examine our current situation, which is scary for many working in technology roles. Consider these stories from the past week:
MSN: For Tech Workers, Layoffs on Leave Add to Uncertainty — “A longtime Google employee recently shared her experience of being laid off while on maternity leave, adding a personal dimension to the widespread job cuts affecting the technology sector. After more than 12 years with the company, she learned she was impacted by recent recruiting team layoffs. Her situation highlights the challenges facing employees, particularly women, during a period of significant change in the industry.”
Daily Mail: Jobs bloodbath becomes a massacre as biggest company in the world announces massive layoffs — “Microsoft is planning to cut thousands of jobs as it ramps up investments in artificial intelligence. The cuts, which will hit sales roles in particular, are part of a broader effort to streamline the company’s workforce, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
“The layoffs are expected to be announced early next month, following the end of the tech giant’s fiscal year, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.”
Indian Express: High-paying corporate jobs are shrinking. Is AI to blame, or do these roles now require specialized expertise? — “Though many large tech companies have declined to provide specific reasons for announced job reductions, tech leaders, and those who hold substantial power, are increasingly citing artificial intelligence as a key factor in hiring and headcount reductions.”
TechCrunch: A comprehensive list of 2025 tech layoffs — “The tech layoff wave is still kicking in 2025. Last year saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. So far this year, more than 22,000 workers have been the victim of reductions across the tech industry, with a staggering 16,084 cuts taking place in February alone.
“We’re tracking layoffs in the tech industry in 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks and understand the impact on innovation across all types of companies. As businesses continue to embrace AI and automation, this tracker serves as a reminder of the human impact of layoffs — and what could be at stake with increased innovation.”
WHY IS TRANSITION HAPPENING NOW?
In a thoughtful message sent to Amazon employees, CEO Andy Jassy shared details on the opportunities and customer service improvement trends happening at Amazon and in the wider tech world. Here’s an excerpt:
“First, we have strong conviction that AI agents will change how we all work and live. Think of agents as software systems that use AI to perform tasks on behalf of users or other systems. Agents let you tell them what you want (often in natural language), and do things like scour the web (and various data sources) and summarize results, engage in deep research, write code, find anomalies, highlight interesting insights, translate language and code into other variants, and automate a lot of tasks that consume our time. There will be billions of these agents, across every company and in every imaginable field. There will also be agents that routinely do things for you outside of work, from shopping to travel to daily chores and tasks. Many of these agents have yet to be built, but make no mistake, they’re coming, and coming fast. …
“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs. It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
I also like this LinkedIn post by Dylan Jones from Boldsquare on this topic.
“There’s a tightrope every company has to walk when they’re talking about transformative technology. It’s got complete excitement on one side, and desperate anxiety on the other.
“You have to give Amazon credit for walking out on that tightrope. CEO Andy Jassy’s internal communication to his workforce today paints a compelling picture about how AI will reshape customer experiences, change internal workflows, and allow the company to do wholly new things. But at the same time he has to admit that the likely impact is that the company will employ less people in a few years time.
“So some of that messaging will seem exciting to employees, but some of it will seem absolutely terrifying to people who rely on Amazon for their livelihood. It’s only natural for people to ask what it means for their job – not just today, but five years from now. They’ll want to know whether the skills they’re building will still matter, and whether Amazon will be a place that invests in people as much as in models.
“Clearly, companies shouldn’t have to hide their ambition. But if they want to attract and retain the best talent, they have to find ways to balance the growth story (in technology) with the contraction story (in people). That’s not easy.
“The narrative can’t just be ‘this changes everything.’ It has to also include ‘and here’s how we’re bringing our people along for the ride.’ If that’s missing, the message might resonate with investors, but fall flat with the very people you’re hoping will stay on the journey with you.”
Meanwhile, a seemingly unrelated CNBC story from the past week also grabbed my attention when I was wondering if these AI agents can really perform tasks at the same level as humans. The headline reads: “AI avatars in China just proved they are better influencers. It only took a duo 7 hours to rake in more than $7 million.” The summary bullets read:
- “A Chinese entrepreneur raked in $7.65 million after streaming using an interactive digital avatar.
- That was more than what he earned from his previous livestream, which he hosted personally.
- ‘This is a DeepSeek moment for China’s entire livestreaming and digital human industry,’ an analyst said.”
IS THERE A CAREER SILVER LINING TO AI?
No, I don’t want to leave readers in despair, which is where many people could land if all we discuss is job cuts and tech layoffs. There are many potential positive “call to action” messages on AI that can accelerate tech careers.
Let’s start with this New York Times piece: A.I. might take your job, but here are 22 new ones it could give you.
Second, McKinsey offers a great white paper entitled: Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages, which was updated in 2024 to include AI jobs.
Finally, see this Edison and Black article from last year: Over 97 Million Jobs Set to Be Created by AI – World Economic Forum Predicts AI to Create New Job Opportunities, Contrary to Doom and Gloom. Here’s an excerpt:
“The World Economic Forum’s report, foresees a scenario where the creation of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ will outpace the number of jobs that are expected to be lost. While it seems fairly certain that low-skilled positions may be threatened by AI-driven automation, it is important to recognize that new roles requiring different types of skill sets may begin to emerge; ones of which necessitate training and development programs. AI will likely be highly valuable in the manufacturing sector, optimizing processes, facilitating product development, improving logistics, enabling predictive maintenance, and supporting robotics.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
A commonly heard phrase at cybersecurity and technology-related conferences around the country is this: “AI will not replace people, but people who use AI will replace people who don’t.”
I like the sentiment of this statement, and yet, the jobs losses that are being announced in mid-2025 are, to at least some extent, replacing people — with more to come, according to Andy Jassy.
What is clear is that we all need to be lifelong learners who are constantly reskilling with AI tools to become more efficient, whether in the public or private sectors.
