AI was behind over 50,000 layoffs in 2025 — here are the top firms to cite it for job cuts

Layoffs person been a defining diagnostic of the occupation marketplace successful 2025, with respective large companies announcing thousands of occupation cuts driven by artificial intelligence.

In fact, AI was liable for astir 55,000 layoffs successful the U.S. this year, according to consulting steadfast Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

There were successful full 1.17 cardinal occupation cuts done 2025, the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic successful 2020 erstwhile determination were 2.2 cardinal layoffs announced by the extremity of the year.

In October, U.S. employers announced 153,000 occupation cuts, and determination were implicit 71,000 occupation cuts successful November, with AI being cited for implicit 6,000 for the month, per Challenger.

At a clip erstwhile ostentation bites, tariffs are adding to expenses, and firms are looking to transportation retired cost-cutting measures, AI has presented an attractive, short-term solution to the problem.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a survey successful November showing that AI tin already bash the job of 11.7% of the U.S. labour marketplace and prevention arsenic overmuch arsenic $1.2 trillion successful wages crossed finance, healthcare, and different nonrecreational services.

Not everyone is convinced that AI is the existent crushed down the dramatic occupation cuts, arsenic Fabian Stephany, adjunct prof of AI and enactment astatine the Oxford Internet Institute, antecedently told CNBC, that it mightiness beryllium an excuse.

Stephany said galore companies that performed good during the pandemic "significantly overhired" and the caller layoffs mightiness conscionable beryllium a "market clearance."

"It's to immoderate grade firing radical that for whom determination had not been a sustainable agelong word position and alternatively of saying 'we miscalculated this two, 3 years ago, they tin present travel to the scapegoating, and that is saying 'it's due to the fact that of AI though,'" helium added.

Here are the apical firms that cited AI arsenic portion of their layoff and restructuring strategy successful 2025.

In October, Amazon announced the largest ever circular of layoffs successful its history, slashing 14,000 firm roles, arsenic it looks to put successful its "biggest bets" which includes AI.

"This procreation of AI is the astir transformative exertion we've seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate overmuch faster than ever before... we're convinced that we request to beryllium organized much leanly, with less layers and much ownership, to determination arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable for our customers and business," Beth Galetti, elder vice president of radical acquisition and exertion astatine Amazon, wrote successful a blog post.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned of the cuts earlier this year, telling employees that AI volition shrink the company's workforce and that the tech elephantine volition request "fewer radical doing immoderate of the jobs that are being done today, and much radical doing different types of jobs."

Microsoft has chopped a full of astir 15,000 jobs done 2025, and its astir caller announcement successful July saw 9,000 roles connected the chopping block.

CEO Satya Nadella wrote successful a memo to employees that the institution needed to "reimagine" its "mission for a caller era," and went connected to tout the value of AI to the company.

"What does empowerment look similar successful the epoch of AI? It's not conscionable astir gathering tools for circumstantial roles oregon tasks. It's astir gathering tools that empower everyone to make their ain tools. That's the displacement we are driving — from a bundle mill to an quality motor empowering each idiosyncratic and enactment to physique immoderate they request to achieve," Nadella said.

Global tech elephantine IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna told the Wall Street Journal successful May that AI chatbots had taken implicit the jobs of a fewer 100 quality resources workers.

However, dissimilar different companies that had cited AI successful occupation cuts, Krishna admitted that the steadfast had accrued hiring successful different areas that required much captious thinking, specified arsenic bundle engineering, sales, and marketing.

In November, the institution announced a 1% planetary cut, which could interaction astir 3,000 employees.

Cybersecurity bundle maker CrowdStrike said successful May that it's laying disconnected 5% of its workforce oregon 500 employees, and straight attributed the cuts to AI.

"AI has ever been foundational to however we operate," co-founder and CEO George Kurtz wrote successful a memo included successful a securities filing. "AI flattens our hiring curve, and helps america innovate from thought to merchandise faster. It streamlines go-to-market, improves lawsuit outcomes, and drives efficiencies crossed some the beforehand and backmost office. AI is simply a unit multiplier passim the business."

In February, HR level Workday was 1 of the archetypal companies this twelvemonth to accidental its cutting 8.5% of its workforce, amounting to astir 1,750 jobs, arsenic the institution invests much successful AI.

Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach said the layoffs were needed to prioritize AI concern and to escaped up resources.