Global Markets
Home›Global Markets›Trade & Tariffs›AI adoption is reshaping hiring, despite confusion ove…
AI adoption is reshaping hiring, despite confusion over job losses
A study cited by Yahoo Finance found that firms with high-intensity AI spending grew headcount by 10% over two years, even as some large tech companies continued layoffs during the AI boom.
AI is changing how companies approach work, but economists and labor advocates disagree on whether the technology is driving job losses or creating new roles, according to Yahoo Finance.
The article points to continued layoffs during the AI boom, including Microsoft’s nearly 5,000 job cuts in early July and additional downsizing at companies such as Amazon and Oracle, while noting that attributing those moves directly to AI remains difficult.
Yahoo Finance also highlights competing signals from employers and investors, including reports that Alphabet plans to increase headcount, and it quotes UCLA economics professor Till Von Wachter saying it has been “notoriously hard” to pin down how much layoffs are actually driven by AI.
On the data side, the piece cites a Ramp study of more than 21,000 U.S. firms that found companies with the heaviest AI spend expanded overall staff by 10% over two years and boosted entry-level hiring by 12%, while the bottom two-thirds of adopters saw no headcount growth.