Experts are warning against cutting jobs in favor of AI. But companies are going to try anyway.

A survey of 2,400 C-suite leaders published by AI agent platform Writer on Tuesday found that 60% of enterprises intend to lay off employees who can’t or won’t use AI. AI is also spurring favoritism, with 92% of executives surveyed admitting that they are cultivating a class of “AI elite” employees, and 77% of executives claimed that those who don’t use AI won’t be considered for promotions.

The severity towards employees who resist AI might be driven by their own anxiety:

• 38% of CEOs interviewed reported experiencing high levels of stress related to their AI strategies, and 64% feared losing their position if they failed to properly guide their employees through the AI transition.
• "Executives, who are so crippled by anxiety around not having delivered any results [with AI], are clinging to the AI-first people in their companies [and] creating a dual class structure," May Habib, CEO of Writer, told The Deep View’s Jason Hiner.
• Though these executives believe that AI can supercharge work, with 87% claiming their “power users” are five times more productive on average, the actual returns are still miles behind: only 29% report significant returns from generative AI and 23% from agents.

Because these companies have yet to reap what they sowed, many are turning to the one surefire place that they can save a few bucks fast: payroll. Additionally, many companies will likely “AI wash” their headcount reductions, making the bloodbath look even larger, Chad Seiler, KPMG U.S. Industry Leader for Telecom, Media and Technology, told The Deep View.

The gains made from cutting staff and replacing them with AI, however, are temporary, said Seiler. “The losers are going to be the ones that figure out how to eliminate jobs,” he said. “It's not going to be durable. As businesses grow, people continue to hire, and so you're going to have to backslide into hiring more people.”

The durable strategy comes when roles are reimagined, rather than eliminated, said Seiler. If agents can handle all of the grunt work, whether it be cluttered or administrative tasks or data analysis, it could open up brain space for employees to do much more high-value work. To be clear, time is money.

“People on the winning side of this are going to be [asking], how do I free up more time for my people, so they can add more value to my organization?” said Seiler. “Versus ‘I cut 12% of my people through automation.’ That's not a winning strategy for any company, especially if you're a growth-oriented company that has anything to do with innovation.”

Our Deeper View

The enemy of a successful AI metamorphosis is impatience. If you are a leader who isn’t patient enough to reskill hesitant or skeptical employees, instead sending them to the chopping block as a means of getting fast returns, then your gains may only be temporary. On the flip side, if you are taking the time to rethink what the roles in your company might be capable of with AI agents in tow, you may be more likely to stay afloat. The problem, however, is that enterprises are rarely patient, especially with stakeholders breathing down leaders' necks. AI is moving faster than ever, money is being spent at a rapid clip and FOMO is at an all-time high. In the end, something has to give.