AI-driven layoffs have become a dominant theme of 2025 as thousands of workers find themselves out of a job whilst companies go all-in on artificial intelligence.
In October, tech giant Amazon let go of 14,000 corporate employees citing investments in its biggest bets including AI. In September, Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff revealed the company had laid off 4,000 customer support roles, saying that AI can do 50% of the company’s work.
Several companies across the U.S. and Europe have announced similar plans to become leaner and more efficient with AI from Accenture and Lufthansa to Klarna.
The U.S. faced the highest level of layoffs in any October since 2003, with job cuts totaling 153,074, up 183% from September and 175% higher than the same month a year ago, according to a new report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It has been the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009.
In this bleak economic environment, professionals who have lost their jobs as a result of AI are likely pondering what their next career move should be; whether to transition into a new industry or profession, or how to beef up their arsenal of skills.
Fabian Stephany, assistant professor of AI and work at the Oxford Internet Institute, stressed how important it is to remain “skeptical and investigate,” because some companies are using AI as a scapegoat for layoffs.
“Is this really due to AI? Even though the company says it’s about automation and AI… it might be about mishiring in the past, it might be about [the] economic downturn, all sorts of things, and the advice on what people should do next strongly depends on whether it’s really about automation or whether it’s really about something else,” Stephany told CNBC Make It in an interview.
If the layoffs are not truly about automation, the simple solution is finding the same or similar position at a different company, according to Stephany. For example, if you’re a software developer, there’s still high demand for those jobs in other firms.
However, if your role is slowly becoming obsolete due to AI, then it’s time to start thinking about upskilling.