What’s really going on with AI and jobs?

Today, we tackle the second biggest question on everyone’s minds when it comes to AI: That is, how is AI *really* impacting jobs?

First, the obligatory note that this work is made 100% possible by subscribers who chip in $6 a month or $60 annually, about a coffee a month or oh a nice lunch out a year. That backing not only funds my reporting, researching, and writing (and now a live chat slash podcast enterprise to boot) but also my ability to share this work with students, organizers, and the broader public. A big thanks to all of you who already pitch in. And to those readers who aren’t yet doing so, but are able, please consider becoming a paid backer, so I can do more of it. Cheers everyone—onwards.

The “AI jobs question” has been overshadowed of late by the “AI bubble question” but it’s rarely been far from view. In fact, it reared its head again when a new report from a global outplacement firm found that 153,000 jobs had been cut in October, the highest number for that month since 2003, and also when Amazon announced tens of thousands of job cuts and executive leadership pointed to advances in AI as the motivating factor. (Salesforce made a similar move in September, laying off 4,000 workers because, as CEO Marc Benoiff said “I need less heads” with AI, and companies like Duolingo and Klarna did the same some months before.)

The layoff report, from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, finds that US based employers announced 175% more job cuts this October than last year, and that 2025 has now seen the most firings of any year since 2020. The report notes that this is unusual, as most companies typically avoid year-end layoff announcements to avoid bad press, and that the firings arrive “as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes.”

From the report:

In October alone, Cost-Cutting was the top reason employers cited for job reductions, responsible for 50,437 announced layoffs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the second-most cited factor, leading to 31,039 job cuts as companies continue to restructure and automate. AI has been cited for 48,414 job cuts this year.

The October Amazon firings certainly fit the bill. Amazon SVP Beth Galetti wrote in a memo accompanying the layoff announcement that “AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen ...