Meet the New Buzzword Behind Every Tech Layoff — From Salesforce to Meta

The job market is as unstable as ever, and tech workers are feeling it the most.

In early 2025, IT giant Accenture announced 22,000 job cuts, saying it was restructuring its workforce around AI. The company was planning to boost $2.6 billion AI consulting business while letting go of employees who “couldn’t be reskilled” for generative AI.

Salesforce followed a similar strategy, cutting 4,000 customer support roles to make way for its new AI chatbot, Agentforce. Even smaller Bay Area startups have joined in, trimming 6%–15% of staff in what they call “AI-forward expansions” to “increase agility and efficiency.”

Across the board, it has become evident that layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure — they’re being framed as an “AI transformation.”

But dig deeper, and it’s hard to ignore the pattern. AI isn’t always the cause. It’s just become the most convenient cover story.

If you’ve noticed the wave of “AI-related layoffs,” you’re not imagining it — and neither are the experts.

According to Oxford Internet Institute professor Fabian Stephany, AI is the perfect scapegoat for unpopular business moves. Companies can claim they’re “embracing innovation” while quietly slashing payroll.

It’s also good news on the PR side. Given investors’ confidence in AI, stock prices soar when companies announce an AI pivot and executives get to sound visionary — even if their AI projects remain nothing but vaporware.

As Thomas Roulet, a professor at the University of Cambridge, puts it, today’s economic uncertainty has made companies hesitant to admit to over-hiring or mismanagement, which most likely happened during the pandemic.

By blaming AI, CEOs get to play tech pioneers while covering up the same old cost-cutting decisions with a cleaner narrative.

Critics point out that genuine AI adoption is happening far slower than corporate statements imply. Many companies that cite “AI restructuring” haven’t actually automated much at all — and some have even scaled back AI initiatives to reduce expenses or address security risks.

Most of these layoffs also hit roles in HR, marketing, and customer support — the same “cost centers” executives have targeted for years. The difference now is that companies can claim an AI bot will soon fill the gap, even when that tech barely exists.

Despite this, the PR strategy stays consistent in framing “AI-driven” layoffs as innovation, and not downsizing.

Such business moves thus underscore the fact that history is repeating. AI is the new buzzword replacing outsourcing, restructuring, and broader digital transformation, which were corporate staples from the previous years.

All this corporate spin fuels public anxiety that AI is wiping out jobs.

But the reality says otherwise.

A Yale Budget Lab study found that generative AI tools like ChatGPT have had minimal impact on overall U.S. employment. Compared to past tech revolutions like computers or the internet, AI hasn’t significantly shifted the labor market yet, whether in terms of occupational mix or widespread job losses.

The study also concluded that AI’s impact “remains largely speculative.” In other words, it’s not the tech that’s cutting jobs — it’s the talking points.

So while workers are encouraged to “adapt” and “upskill,” they should remember: no amount of AI training can save you if your company’s layoffs are driven by optics, not automation.

AI will eventually reshape work — but right now, it’s reshaping press releases.

Behind every “AI-driven restructuring” headline, there’s often a cost-cutting decision wearing a high-tech disguise.

So the next time a company blames AI for layoffs, take it with a grain of salt. There’s more to tech layoffs than meets the eye.