CEOs Push AI While Cutting Jobs: The Hypocrisy Fueling Worker Backlash

CEOs are telling workers to embrace AI, but many are also citing it as a reason for layoffs. This contradiction is fueling a growing backlash among employees who fear for their jobs.

The Disconnect

Lis Cooper, a 30-year-old data analyst in Melbourne, recently quit their job over AI concerns. They felt every interaction with AI tools was contributing to technology that could eventually replace them. "It was an impossible situation to navigate," Cooper said.

Across industries, executives are encouraging AI adoption through hackathons, training, and performance reviews that score AI use. Yet many tech companies leading the AI push are also announcing layoffs, reorgs, and hiring slowdowns, often pointing to efficiency gains or funneling resources toward AI.

The Backlash

This year, major companies including Snap, Block, and Cisco have tied job cuts to AI. Meta laid off about 8,000 employees, saying cuts would offset "other investments" in AI. The message was clear: funding tech spending requires trimming workers.

A recent Economist/YouGov survey found about three-quarters of US adults are worried about AI taking jobs. Workers are far more skeptical than executives, largely due to fear of job loss, said Mark Ma, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Business.

Ma's research analyzed millions of Glassdoor reviews and earnings calls. The takeaway: Employers that pair AI rollouts with job cuts risk undermining productivity gains because layoff fears discourage workers from embracing the technology. "The job security concern really dominates," Ma said.

The Pressure

At some companies, AI adoption pressure shows up in performance reviews and surveillance tools. Meta installed software on US workers' computers that tracks keystrokes and mouse movements to train AI. JPMorgan tracks software engineers' AI use via dashboards.

The Reality

Most leaders don't set out to swap workers for AI, said Larry Gadea, CEO of Envoy. The goal is to win in the marketplace. Companies are trying to determine "who's going to fit in in this new world," defined by willingness to embrace AI.

However, the dramatic productivity gains executives expected from AI have yet to materialize. A survey by Writer and Workplace Intelligence found that adopting AI is "tearing their company apart" for over half of business leaders.

A Bright Spot

Not all companies are cutting staff. At many midsize firms, leaders hesitate to make deep reductions because growth depends on experienced employees and institutional knowledge. "You're still going to need the humans," said Jivka Batchvarova of Baker Tilly.