AI or Excuse? Inside the Motives Behind Big Tech Layoffs

Across the U.S., a growing number of major corporations — including Amazon, Walmart, Salesforce, Meta, UPS, and Goldman Sachs — are laying off tens of thousands of workers while pointing to artificial intelligence as the driving force behind their restructuring.

Amazon, for instance, announced more than 14,000 job cuts, claiming that AI would make operations more efficient and help automate repetitive work.

But insiders later clarified that most of these layoffs had little to do with automation, sparking a broader debate about whether companies are using AI as a convenient narrative to justify deep cost-cutting and shareholder appeasement.

Analysts warn that the term “AI transformation” is becoming a buzzword to mask traditional downsizing prompted by economic pressures, slowing demand, or declining stock performance.

Studies back this skepticism: a recent Boston Consulting Group survey found that over 60% of companies investing heavily in AI saw only minimal returns, and fewer than 10% reported significant productivity or financial gains.

Meanwhile, companies like UPS and Meta are simultaneously investing billions in automation while cutting thousands of human jobs, raising questions about whether the benefits of AI are being overstated to sustain investor confidence.

The result is a paradoxical picture of progress — one where corporate America touts AI innovation but workers face growing uncertainty and minimal evidence of true technological payoff.