{"id":734,"date":"2025-07-09T16:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=734"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:21:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:21:15","slug":"companies-keep-slashing-jobs-how-worried-should-workers-be-about-ai-replacing-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/09\/companies-keep-slashing-jobs-how-worried-should-workers-be-about-ai-replacing-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Companies keep slashing jobs. How worried should workers be about AI replacing them?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tech companies that are cutting jobs and leaning more on artificial intelligence are also disrupting themselves.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related left\">\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\" data-curated-ids=\"\" data-relation-type=\"automatic-primary-section\">Related Articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/07\/10\/japanese-head-spa-sauna-colf-plunge-eybrows-hair-denver\/\" title=\"Treat yourself: These Denver self-care spots are worth the cost\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTreat yourself: These Denver self-care spots are worth the cost\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/07\/10\/quiktrip-lawsuit-denver-gas-station-restrictions-rejected\/\" title=\"Judge rejects QuikTrip\u2019s lawsuit over new Denver gas station restrictions\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tJudge rejects QuikTrip\u2019s lawsuit over new Denver gas station restrictions\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/07\/09\/king-soopers-safeway-workers-vote-on-contracts\/\" title=\"Union members start voting on King Soopers, Safeway contract proposals\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tUnion members start voting on King Soopers, Safeway contract proposals\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/07\/09\/leclares-patisserie-retail-closing-colfax-construction\/\" title=\"Colfax construction takes out year-old pastry shop\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tColfax construction takes out year-old pastry shop\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/07\/09\/trump-trade-talks\/\" title=\"Trump\u2019s trade blitz produces few deals but lots of uncertainty\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTrump\u2019s trade blitz produces few deals but lots of uncertainty\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Amazon\u2019s Chief Executive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aboutamazon.com\/news\/company-news\/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-on-generative-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andy Jassy<\/a> said last month that he expects the e-commerce giant will shrink its workforce as employees \u201cget efficiency gains from using AI extensively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Salesforce, a software company that helps businesses manage customer relationships, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/paZLxM0PRqQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chief Executive Marc Benioff<\/a> said last week that AI is already doing 30% to 50% of the company\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>Other tech leaders have chimed in before. Earlier this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/05\/28\/ai-jobs-white-collar-unemployment-anthropic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthropic<\/a>, an AI startup, flashed a big warning: AI could wipe out more than half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next one to five years.<\/p>\n<p>Ready or not, AI is reshaping, displacing and creating new roles as technology\u2019s impact on the job market ripples across multiple sectors. The AI frenzy has fueled a lot of anxiety from workers who fear their jobs could be automated. Roughly half of U.S. workers are worried about how AI may be used in the workplace in the future and few think AI will lead to more job opportunities in the long run, according to a Pew Research Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/social-trends\/2025\/02\/25\/u-s-workers-are-more-worried-than-hopeful-about-future-ai-use-in-the-workplace\/\">report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The heightened fear comes as major tech companies, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2025-07-02\/microsoft-layoffs-technology-industry\">Microsoft<\/a>, Intel, Amazon and Meta cut workers, push for more efficiency and promote their AI tools. Tech companies have rolled out AI-powered features that can generate code, analyze data, develop apps and help complete other tedious tasks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAI isn\u2019t just taking jobs. It\u2019s really rewriting the rule book on what work even looks like right now,\u201d said Robert Lucido, senior director of strategic advisory at Magnit, a company based in Folsom, Calif., that helps tech giants and other businesses manage contractors, freelancers and other contingent workers.<\/p>\n<h4>Disruption debated<\/h4>\n<p>Exactly how big of a disruption AI will have on the job market is still being debated. Executives for OpenAI, the maker of popular chatbot ChatGPT, have pushed back against the prediction that a massive white-collar job bloodbath is coming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do totally get not just the anxiety, but that there is going to be real pain here, in many cases,\u201d said Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, at an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cT63mvqN54o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a> with \u201cHard Fork,\u201d the tech podcast from the New York Times. \u201cIn many more cases, though, I think we will find that the world is significantly underemployed. The world wants way more code than can get written right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As new economic policies, including those around tariffs, create more unease among businesses, companies are reining in costs while also being pickier about whom they hire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re trying to find what we call the purple unicorns rather than someone that they can ramp up and train,\u201d Lucido said.<\/p>\n<p>Before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT \u2014 a chatbot that can generate text, images, code and more \u2014tech companies were already using AI to curate posts, flag offensive content and power virtual assistants. But the popularity and apparent superpowers of ChatGPT set off a fierce competition among tech companies to release even more powerful generative AI tools. They\u2019re racing ahead, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2025-01-22\/openai-oracle-and-softbank-team-up-on-multibillion-dollar-ai-project\">data centers<\/a>, facilities that house computing equipment such as servers used to process the trove of information needed to train and maintain AI systems.<\/p>\n<p>Economists and consultants have been trying to figure out how AI will affect engineers, lawyers, analysts and other professions. Some say the change won\u2019t happen as soon as some tech executives expect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been many claims about new technologies displacing jobs, and although such displacement has occurred in the past, it tends to take longer than technologists typically expect,\u201d economists for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/opub\/mlr\/2025\/article\/incorporating-ai-impacts-in-bls-employment-projections.htm\">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a> said in a February report.<\/p>\n<p>AI can help develop, test and write code, provide financial advice and sift through legal documents. The bureau, though, still projects that employment of software developers, financial advisors, aerospace engineers and lawyers will grow faster than the average for all occupations from 2023 to 2033. Companies will still need software developers to build AI tools for businesses or maintain AI systems.<\/p>\n<h4>Worker bots<\/h4>\n<p>Tech executives have touted AI\u2019s ability to write code. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has said that he thinks AI will be able to write code like a mid-level engineer in 2025. And Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella has said that as much as 30% of the company\u2019s code is written by AI.<\/p>\n<p>Other roles could grow more slowly or shrink because of AI. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment of paralegals and legal assistants to grow slower than the average for all occupations while roles for credit analysts, claims adjusters and insurance appraisers to decrease.<\/p>\n<p>McKinsey Global Institute, the business and economics research arm of the global management consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Co., predicts that by 2030 \u201cactivities that account for up to 30 percent of hours currently worked across the US economy could be automated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/mgi\/our-research\/a-new-future-of-work-the-race-to-deploy-ai-and-raise-skills-in-europe-and-beyond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">institute<\/a> expects that demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles will grow in the United States and Europe but shrink for customer service and office support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA large part of that work involves skills, which are routine, predictable and can be easily done by machines,\u201d said Anu Madgavkar, a partner with the McKinsey Global Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Although generative AI fuels the potential for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/mgi\/our-research\/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work-in-america\">automation<\/a> to eliminate jobs, AI can also enhance technical, creative, legal and business roles, the report said. There will be a lot of \u201cnoise and volatility\u201d in hiring data, Madgavkar said, but what will separate the \u201cwinners and losers\u201d is how people rethink their work flows and jobs themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Tech companies have announced 74,716 cuts from January to May, up 35% from the same period last year, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.challengergray.com\/blog\/may-2025-job-cuts-up-47-over-same-month-last-year-cuts-spread-to-other-sectors-than-govt-for-other-reasons-than-doge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas, a firm that offers job search and career transition coaching.<\/p>\n<p>Tech companies say they\u2019re slashing jobs for various reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Autodesk, which makes software used by architects, designers and engineers, slashed 9% of its workforce, or 1,350 positions, this year. The San Francisco company cited geopolitical and macroeconomic factors along with its efforts to invest more heavily in AI as reasons for the cuts, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/769397\/000076939725000013\/ceoemployeeannouncement.htm\">regulatory<\/a> filing. Other companies such as Oakland fintech company <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/03\/25\/read-the-email-jack-dorsey-sent-when-he-cut-931-of-blocks-staff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Block<\/a>, which slashed 8% of its workforce in March, told employees that the cuts were strategic not because they\u2019re \u201creplacing folks with AI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Diana Colella, executive vice president, entertainment and media solutions at Autodesk, said that it\u2019s scary when people don\u2019t know what their job will look like in a year. Still, she doesn\u2019t think AI will replace humans or creativity but rather act as an assistant.<\/p>\n<p>Companies are looking for more AI expertise. <a href=\"https:\/\/adsknews.autodesk.com\/en\/news\/ai-jobs-report\/#:~:text=Back-,Autodesk%20launches%202025%20AI%20Jobs%20Report%3A%20Demand%20for%20AI%20skills,Design%20and%20Make%20jobs%20surge&amp;text=AI%20fluency%20is%20no%20longer,and%202024%20(%2B120.6%25).\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Autodesk<\/a> found that mentions of AI in U.S. job listings surged in 2025 and some of the fastest-growing roles include AI engineer, AI content creator and AI solutions architect. The company partnered with analytics firm GlobalData to examine nearly 3 million job postings over two years across industries such as architecture, engineering and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>Workers have adapted to technology before. When the job of a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman was disrupted because of the rise of online search, those workers pivoted to selling other products, Colella said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe skills are still key and important,\u201d she said. \u201cThey just might be used for a different product or a different service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times Tech companies that are cutting jobs and leaning more on artificial intelligence are also disrupting themselves. Related Articles Treat yourself: These Denver self-care spots are worth the cost Judge rejects QuikTrip\u2019s lawsuit over new Denver gas station restrictions Union members start voting on King Soopers, Safeway contract proposals Colfax&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":735,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions\/735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}