CEOs and boards are obsessed with AI hype, but most companies are stumbling when it comes to actually using it effectively. Instead of measured adoption, firms are slashing roles, claiming workers can’t be retrained fast enough.
Accenture alone cut more than 11,000 jobs this year. “Value realization [of AI] has been underwhelming for many and enterprise adoption at scale is slow, other than with digital natives,” Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said during a recent company earnings call.
Microsoft, Intel, Salesforce, and Dell have followed suit: trimming staff while funneling billions into AI projects.
These layoffs are the harsh side of the AI rush. Companies chasing efficiency and the appearance of innovation. Thousands of employees are being pushed out as roles are eliminated or redefined, and the message is clear: if your job doesn’t fit the AI strategy, it’s on the chopping block.
Accenture
- CEO: Julie Sweet
- Layoffs: Over 11,000 employees globally
Why: Accenture’s restructuring aims to build an AI-ready workforce, planning further layoffs for employees unable to adapt to AI demands.
Accenture slashed more than 11,000 jobs in late 2025 as part of an $865 million restructuring to become “AI-ready”. CEO Julie Sweet made clear that staff who cannot be retrained for AI-era skills “will be exited on a compressed timeline”. In practice, this meant cutting traditional IT and consulting roles while investing heavily in AI upskilling. Accenture has pledged to train its remaining workforce on AI and redirect people into high-growth areas like cloud and AI services. As Sweet noted, upskilling is a top priority, but the company will “exit” workers when reskilling is not viable.
The net effect is a leaner firm positioned to sell AI consulting: Accenture now reports billions in AI-related revenue even as it cuts legacy jobs.
Salesforce
- CEO: Marc Benioff
- Layoffs: Approximately 4,000 employees
Why: Salesforce has used AI agents to replace customer support staff, leading to significant job cuts.
Salesforce announced last month that it eliminated about 4,000 jobs in its customer-support division. CEO Marc Benioff explained that the company deployed AI “agent” tools to handle routine support queries, reducing headcount from roughly 9,000 to 5,000 in that group. In other words, generative AI chatbots and automation began doing much of what human reps used to do.
Benioff emphasized that AI is supplementing seasonal capacity and improving service, but the result was a significant reduction in live support staff. Analysts note that about half of Salesforce’s support interactions are now managed by AI, underscoring a broader shift: the company is redefining customer service around its Einstein AI platform, trimming roles that have become redundant.
Amazon
- CEO: Andy Jassy
- Layoffs: Tens of thousands (including hundreds in AWS)
Why: Amazon attributes layoffs to the adoption of generative AI tools, though it has also hired over 10,000 foreign workers, raising concerns among US lawmakers.
According to Jassy, AI adoption would lead to job losses, stating, “With AI, we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today.” Amazon’s leadership says these layoffs are due to automation and changing demand (plus broader market pressures), but critics point out that the company simultaneously sought to hire 10,044 new H-1B tech workers in FY2025. In short, Amazon is reallocating human capital: replacing some in-house roles with AI-driven automation (and imported talent), especially in cloud and fulfillment.
IBM
- CEO: Arvind Krishna
- Layoffs: Approximately 8,000 employees (mostly in HR)
Why: IBM replaced many HR functions with its AI-powered chatbot, AskHR, automating 94% of routine tasks.
IBM cut roughly 8,000 jobs as part of an AI transformation under CEO Arvind Krishna. The company deployed an AI-driven chatbot called AskHR, which now automates about 94% of routine HR inquiries (vacation requests, pay questions, etc.). That automation rendered many HR roles unnecessary, allowing IBM to reassign or retrain affected employees.
CEO Arvind Krishna reported that these layoffs funded new hires in engineering, sales and other strategic areas: in fact, IBM’s total headcount grew overall despite cutting HR. The AI move has already paid off: IBM claims roughly $3.5 billion in productivity gains from AI tools across its businesses. In short, IBM shifted staff from administrative tasks to AI and innovation roles, using workforce cuts in HR as fuel to build its AI capabilities.
Dell Technologies
- CEO: Michael Dell
- Layoffs: Unspecified number (reported to be in the hundreds)
Why: Dell is focusing on AI-driven technologies, including AI services and infrastructure, leading to workforce reductions in traditional roles.
Dell has executed a series of unannounced layoffs (primarily in sales and marketing) during 2025. Sources say Dell eliminated its entire enterprise sales team (roughly 150 people) and made cuts across other sales divisions.
These cuts came as Dell’s revenue mix shifted sharply toward AI hardware. In fact, Dell reported $12.1 billion in AI server orders in Q1 2025 (while sales of traditional servers lagged). Company insiders explain that selling AI infrastructure requires fewer but more specialized account executives than the large salesforce needed for PCs and legacy servers. In other words, Dell is refocusing on high-end AI products (servers, storage, services) and slimming down teams oriented to older lines. The layoffs reflect this pivot: by pruning generalist roles, Dell reallocates resources to its booming AI segment, betting that concentrated expertise will outweigh broad coverage of fading markets.
Meta (Facebook)
- CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
- Layoffs: Approximately 3,600 employees (about 5% of staff)
Why: Meta is focusing on AI and the metaverse, leading to restructuring efforts that include layoffs. This, after Zuckerberg described the year as “intense.”
Meta announced in January 2025 that it would cut about 3,600 jobs: roughly 5% of its 72,000-employee workforce. Mark Zuckerberg framed the move as a preparation for an “intense year” focused on new technologies like AI and augmented reality (e.g. smart glasses).
Unlike some of its peers, Meta did not explicitly say these cuts were to pay for AI investment, but its memo emphasized raising performance standards while building AI products. Observers note the timing: Meta was highly profitable in late 2024, yet it chose to eliminate “low performers” and roles peripheral to its AI/metaverse ambitions. The layoffs are part of an ongoing overhaul (Meta has cut over 20,000 jobs since 2022), reflecting Zuckerberg’s strategy to shift resources into AI development. As one report put it, even Meta’s fact-checking and diversity programs are being reworked to focus more on AI-driven community standards, underscoring the company-wide AI orientation.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
- CEO: Antonio Neri
- Layoffs: Approximately 2,500 employees (about 5%)
Why: HPE is focusing on AI use cases and has initiated a cost-reduction program to capitalize on AI developments.
In August 2025, HPE said it would cut roughly 5% of its workforce (≈2,500 jobs) as part of a $350 million cost-reduction plan. CEO Antonio Neri explained the layoffs as necessary to “better align” costs with the company’s evolving business mix and long-term strategy. He specifically cited fierce competition and margin pressure in traditional servers.
Notably, Neri pointed out that HPE is carrying high inventory of next-generation AI hardware (Nvidia Blackwell GPUs), which has weighed on margins. The implication is that HPE is accelerating its shift to AI infrastructure: by trimming general business expenses now, it can invest more quickly in AI use cases.
In fact, HPE reported a 40% jump in enterprise AI orders in the latest quarter. The company is essentially front-loading cuts to free capital for AI growth: the layoffs are described as “tough” but strategic moves to speed decision-making and capture the forthcoming AI-driven revenue lift.
Microsoft
- CEO: Satya Nadella
- Layoffs: Over 15,000 employees in 2025
Why: Microsoft is directing $80 billion toward AI infrastructure, including data centers and AI model development.
Microsoft has enacted massive cuts across multiple divisions as it redirects spending toward AI. In 2025 alone it laid off about 6,000 workers in May and another 9,000 in July, for a total exceeding 15,000.
A Windows Central report explains that Microsoft’s leadership saw these reductions as a trade-off to fund an $80 billion investment in AI infrastructure for 2025. Nadella has framed the restructuring as focusing on AI-driven growth rather than cost-cutting for its own sake. Indeed, the affected roles tend to be in sales, marketing and other areas “that could be aided by AI,” while Microsoft doubles down on its Copilot/AI platforms.
In Nadella’s words, this is an “enigma of success”: record profits allowing the company to prune headcount in legacy areas and pour resources into AI services. The headlines focused on numbers, but analysts note the context: Microsoft is effectively paying for cloud and AI dominance with a leaner workforce.
Intel
- CEO: Pat Gelsinger
- Layoffs: Approximately 24,000 employees (about 25% of Intel’s workforce)
Why: Intel is shifting focus towards AI-driven products, including AI chips and data center solutions, while scaling back traditional hardware operations.
In its Q2 2025 earnings, Intel announced it will shrink to ~75,000 employees by year-end (down from ~99,500). This means roughly 24,500 jobs go, making it the biggest tech layoff of the year.
Interim CEO Lip-Bu Tan explained that the cuts are meant to create a “new Intel” that is laser-focused on core products and AI. In practice, Intel is scaling back investment in trailing-edge foundry and consumer chip projects, while shifting engineering talent to data-center and AI chip development.
Tan said the workforce reductions will simplify the company and improve agility, enabling more resources for high-performance and AI roadmap products. In short, Intel is doubling down on AI-related hardware (server CPUs, accelerators, networking) and retrenching from businesses that aren’t growing. The layoffs fund this pivot: management layers were slashed ~50%, and budget freed to speed up AI chip programs. The company now touts growing demand for AI servers and next-gen processors even as it cuts other divisions.
Google (Alphabet)
- CEO: Sundar Pichai
- Layoffs: Over 200 contractors working on AI products in 2025
Why: In 2025, Google undertook a targeted reduction of its workforce, focusing on managerial roles and certain operational positions.
Despite these cuts, Pichai reassured employees that AI would not lead to widespread job losses. Instead, he projected that AI would drive growth, stating, “I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more”. He further noted that AI’s role is to make engineers more productive, not to replace them.
This restructuring aligns with Google’s broader AI strategy, including the development of its Gemini AI platform and the appointment of Koray Kavukcuoglu as Chief AI Architect to lead AI-powered product development.
Google’s AI teams also saw cuts. In September 2025 the company quietly dismissed over 200 contract workers who were training its AI systems. These contractors, often PhD-level “raters,” were helping improve Google products like Gemini and Search AI by refining chatbot outputs. Google described the layoffs as a routine “ramp-down,” but workers say they came amid disputes over pay and working conditions.
The move follows an internal strategy: to replace even skilled AI trainers with the AI models themselves once trained.
