According to consulting firm Mercer’s Global Talent Trends report, 99% of CEOs are ready for AI-driven layoffs in the short term. The report said a majority of executives believe redesigning work to include automation will provide the greatest return on investment, but only 32% said they believe the workforce can better combine both human and machine capabilities.
The corporate world is eagerly adopting artificial intelligence as the next big profit maximization tool. In the past year, many companies and Silicon Valley companies have claimed that artificial intelligence initiatives are working so well that they can justify mass layoff decisions. But while executives and investors alike have been relatively open about their expectations for an AI-driven white-collar unemployment crisis in the near future, experts are conflicted over whether these commitments are resulting in meaningful productivity gains, while others are dismissing AI’s potential to disrupt the workforce as merely a strategic tactic used by the AI industry to sell its products.
Young workers are suffering the consequences of this. According to a recent survey by another consulting firm, most of the AI-driven workforce reductions for which CEOs are preparing are expected to focus on early-career positions. That said, the rationale for this is that AI is best at automating the simple tasks that an early career worker is expected to perform at a company as they get the on-the-job training needed to mature into higher-level positions. But many executives, dazzled by the promise of AI chatbots that can complete tasks in mere seconds and work 24/7 without the need for bathroom breaks, have said that training for early-career workers and the future of the workforce has been put to hell.
According to several studies published last year, this effect is not imaginary and has already occurred. The result has been the worst job market for 22 to 27-year-olds since the worst days of the pandemic, and hordes of young people have become overwhelmingly disillusioned about both AI and their future. A recent study found that AI use by Gen Z was stagnant, and members of the group were increasingly feeling anxious and angry at the technology.
This AI skepticism has infected other age groups as well. An NBC News poll in March found that AI was so unpopular among voters that even the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), which was at the center of a crackdown that led to mass protests across the country, was viewed relatively more positively.
Putting aside the question of whether this trend of layoffs can actually be justified by AI’s increased productivity, employees are impressed by how executives are supporting the technology at the expense of their workforce. According to Mercer’s survey, only 44% of employees reported feeling thriving at work in 2026, down from 66% in 2024, and concerns over AI-driven job displacement are to blame. This existential crisis and deep anxiety is so prevalent among workers that researchers are proposing coining the term “AI replacement dysfunction” or AIRD to describe it.
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