Layoffs Attributed to AI

This WSJ article highlighted AI’s impact on marketing related roles. In one the paragraphs, a statistic was cited that I had never seen before, the number of layoffs that were attributed to AI.

Of the 80,000 people whom U.S. employers said they laid off last month, 3,900 lost their jobs because of AI, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which takes its data from public announcements and filings. All 3,900 of those people worked at tech companies, according to a Challenger, Gray spokeswoman.

So about 5% of total layoffs in May 2023 were attributed to AI. This is pretty significant. I imagine this number will grow. It will be interesting to continue to track this number.