AI job losses: Transformation expected, not mass layoffs
The increasing move of AI into the enterprise may cause job losses, but IT professionals say it will reshape roles and improve productivity rather than trigger mass layoffs.
The ongoing march of AI into the enterprise has fueled the idea that the bots are coming for jobs.
The fact that major players like Amazon and Salesforce are laying off thousands of employees in the beginning of 2026 has only increased fears that a wave of AI-led job loss is just beginning. There are other factors at work in the enterprise job losses -- such as corrective action for COVID pandemic overhiring and general non-AI related enterprise budget cutting.
At the IT Expo conference in Fort Lauderdale from Feb. 10-12, we asked IT professionals about their perceptions of the influx of AI on employment in the current environment. The answers indicate that AI will transform companies but might not cause mass job losses in and of itself.
Will more adoption of AI cause significant job losses? What will be some impacts of AI on the job outlook for your company and industry?
"Not at my firm. It might depend more on where you are located. If you're in the Midwest -- because we move slower -- it's starting just now. There's also a more family feel with a lot of the companies that are our target demographic. The adoption rate and the displacement rate is going to be lower initially, but like anything, it snowballs. You have to figure in the major metros, where things happen a lot quicker, it's going to happen quicker, because they see the profit motive and they want to be on the cutting edge."
-- Dominick Gray, president of Center City Communications, a telecommunications MSP in Southfield, Mich.
"How long have we been talking about AI? I don't see [mass layoffs happening] yet. I still see it as a tool that helps organizations and helps people be more productive. [I heard a writer say something like] for any marketing material you put together, there's nothing that beats the human eye for correcting and editing, and there's no AI in human eyes. AI makes mistakes. AI is a confident liar. So if all organizations start doing AI, we're all lying to each other. We're answering each other: How are we all progressing? How are we all earning more revenue? How are we all growing our business? What's the purpose of your business if it's run by and for AI? There are so many stories about startups, and young people are using AI to start building their companies. That's great, but is that going to work long term? Is that going to make the company sustainable?"
-- Glenn Kupsch, president at Adaptive IT, an MSP startup in Vero Beach, Fla.
"There's going to be disruption, just like any time there's been change in the past. People were really upset when cars became popular, and they said, "Who's going to take care of all the horses?" We still have horses, but we don't have a lot of buggy whip manufacturing. A similar type of thing will happen, things will change. When I worked back in the '80s and '90s, I'd go to an office and there might be eight accountants in there. One person did accounts payable, one did accounts receivable, one ran the statements. Nowadays, there's one person doing it all, and it's not because of AI or anything else. It's because the tools have gotten better. As the tools get better, more people use them and there's more opportunity. AI will be a lot like that, but it is a little bit different. We just don't know what the impact will be.
As the tools get better, more people use them and there's more opportunity. AI will be a lot like that, but it is a little bit different. We just don't know what the impact will be.
Steve JohnsonChief operating officer, Ferox Consulting
One of the biggest problems I see going forward is how you get somebody in an entry-level role -- whether it's tech support or junior coder -- to the point where they're the guys that have 15 to 20 years of experience now and understand the high-level stuff. How do you understand the high-level stuff without having made your way through it? Maybe that just happens a lot faster with AI."
-- Steve Johnson, chief operating officer at Ferox Consulting, an IT consulting firm and MSP in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Jim O'Donnell is a news director for TechTarget, where he covers IT strategy and enterprise ESG.
