Is AI really cutting jobs - or is it just the front face?
"We had to make cuts because of AI." I've read that line a dozen times this quarter. Most of it is a costume. Trackers say ~56% of 2026 layoffs now cite AI. The same firms are spending ~$700B building it. Sounds logical. Here's the tell. If AI were doing the work, output climbs before the headcount drops.
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"We had to make cuts because of AI."
I've read that line a dozen times this quarter. Most of it is a costume.
Trackers say ~56% of 2026 layoffs now cite AI. The same firms are spending ~$700B building it. Sounds logical.
Here's the tell. If AI were doing the work, output climbs before the headcount drops. When the cut comes first, it isn't automation. It's a budget decision wearing a tech press release.
A Gartner survey found execs cut teams after piloting AI even when it delivered no return. The tech was the alibi, not the cause.
And the bill nobody books: the knowledge walking out the door, re-hired at a premium in 18 months.
The real test of 2026 isn't who shrank their team. It's who made a smaller team produce more.
So before the next "because of AI" memo: did the AI actually do the work yet?
#AI #FutureOfWork #Productivity #BoardroomAI
Written by Siddhesh Joglekar
Fractional CMO and AI marketing consultant Siddhesh Joglekar helps founders and growth-stage teams build marketing engines that compound.
