Many major corporations have made significant cuts to their workforces this year as the rough market conditions that began in 2022 have continued.
Some companies have justified these layoffs by pointing to a renewed focus on efficiency and staying lean, thereby putting an end to the pandemic hiring boom and era of "fake work."
Others have noted that they're redirecting to focus on business sectors with more potential.
Among them, a handful of companies including Meta, Google, and Dropbox have specifically pointed to a new — or renewed — focus on artificial intelligence in their layoff memos to staff.
Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute who studies the impact of AI on the economy, believes that some companies may simply be using the AI argument right now as an excuse to cull their ranks.
"Many firms got way out over their skis with over hiring in the first year of the pandemic," he said. "The AI explosion may be a convenient explanation for ordinary mismanagement."
A pivot to AI could eventually mean these companies have bulked-up teams working on AI products or a greater need for machine learning engineers or natural language processing experts. The money to hire those people has to come from other departments.
"Our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development," Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said in his message to staff announcing layoffs.
At the same time, the focus on AI could mean some jobs are wiped out entirely. It's hard to ignore that AI tools have already become proficient at several professional tasks that once fell under the domain of humans like writing emails, analyzing data, and even coding.
Muro agrees that for some businesses, the application of large language models like ChatGPT or GPT-4 could have a "material impact" on day-to-day operations.
The CEO of the avatar tools startup Genies, for example, recently purchased ChatGPT for all of his employees to streamline the company's workflow.
That's why Muro thinks a healthy dose of paranoia might be valuable for everyone right now.
"I think every worker needs to ask themselves what are they bringing to their work and what do they do that is irreplaceable?" Muro said. "That question is getting harder to answer now."
Here are a list of companies that have cited AI in announcements regarding layoffs and hiring freezes.