Companies Cite AI in Layoffs as Report Estimates Payroll Impact

Multiple companies including Meta, Nike, Intuit, and UPS have announced layoffs in recent months, often linking the reductions to AI adoption. U.S. monthly payroll growth by roughly 16,000 jobs over the past year. Knowledge workers in fields such as software engineering, finance, accounting, and law face the highest exposure because their tasks involve cognitive work that AI systems can replicate.

Shrier, professor of AI and Innovation at Imperial College London, said the most vulnerable roles are those previously viewed as secure career paths. Oded Nov, a professor of technology management at New York University, described jobs as collections of tasks that workers switch between throughout the day.

Repeatable, rule-based tasks such as processing expense reports are considered most at risk. The CEO of Cloudflare wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the company recently reduced its workforce by 20 percent, targeting roles focused on measurement, audits, operations, and compliance.

Roles in hospitality, healthcare, and skilled trades remain less exposed because they require physical presence. Robotics technology is not expected to replace these positions for at least another decade. Skills involving emotional awareness, group dynamics, and original idea generation are harder for current AI systems to perform.

Shrier noted that AI can elaborate on creative prompts but still requires human input to originate ideas.

Workers are advised to test major AI systems by asking how the tools can improve efficiency in their specific roles. AI agents that operate autonomously represent a growing area of workplace application. Shrier said the current environment supports entrepreneurship because individuals can build enterprise-grade software from plain-English prompts.

Even in coding, human oversight remains necessary, as Anthropic employees continue to edit and review code. Nov said history suggests new collections of tasks will emerge as older ones are automated.