Some employers are reversing course after conducting layoffs due to the global artificial intelligence boom, according to analysts.
Though many companies worldwide have announced AI-driven layoffs over the past few years, some employers have reportedly already begun seeking to rehire those former workers. For example, major automaker Ford recently announced it has rehired some human engineers after AI was unable to compete with their skills and experience levels. (RELATED: Artificial Intelligence Boom Could Cause Major Disruptions To US Economy, Analysts Warn)
“While AI-driven layoffs have captured attention, the reality is more complex,” Gartner Vice President Analyst Kathy Ross said in a statement. “Most recent workforce reductions were influenced by broader economic conditions rather than automation alone. As organizations encounter the limits of AI and rising customer expectations, they will need to reinvest in human talent to sustain service quality and growth.”
Fifty-percent of companies that have made AI-driven job cuts citing are notably projected to rehire staff to perform similar job functions by 2027, but just under different job titles, according to a Gartner, Inc report published in February.
“Many firms initially thought of, and treated, AI as a near-perfect substitute for labor,” American Institute for Economic Research’s Senior Director of Research Peter Earle told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “In practice, it has proven to be more of a complement to skilled workers: it makes good workers better, but can’t replace them outright.”
“The result is that some employers are realizing that they cut human capital still sorely needed,” Earle continued.
In July 2025, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said it slashed dozens of customer call center roles due to AI, according to Financial Review. CBA backpedaled on its decision to cut the roles shortly after, calling the move an “error,” the Australian Broadcast Corporation reported in August 2025.
CBA and Ford each did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 30: A San Francisco city bus advertises Artisan, the company behind the AI sales agent Ava, in North Beach on June 30, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Earle also asserted that “productivity and efficiency gains from major technological innovations” such as AI “usually arrive more slowly than the technology itself.”
“Businesses have to redesign workflows, retrain employees, rewrite procedures, and determine where automation genuinely creates value rather than simply replacing labor for its own sake,” Earle explained. “Some firms appear to have assumed that deploying AI alone would produce immediate savings, but that implementation is coming along more gradually and with more growing pains than expected.”
“Companies discovering that AI performs best assisting or supporting human expertise, not by replacing it, are adjusting course, illustrating that technological adoption is an iterative process of experimentation; not a one-time revolution,” he added.
International Business Machines (IBM) CEO Arvind Krishna told The Wall Street Journal in May 2025 that the company had replaced hundreds of human resources workers with AI agents. However, IBM announced in February that it intends to triple entry-level hiring in the U.S. despite AI seemingly decreasing demand for early-career employees, Bloomberg reported.
IBM did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
There is only so much AI-driven automation that companies can currently accomplish, according to Heritage Foundation Senior Research Associate Nicole Huyer.
“Companies are recognizing that they can only automate so much,” Huyer told the DCNF. “AI certainly makes some tasks more productive, but humans are superior in certain disciplines—ones where you must think, judge and use reason; where ethics or morals are in play; or one where uniquely human characteristics like domain experience, institutional knowledge, or creative capacity are required. At the end of the day, AI is only as intelligent or effective as the people programming or prompting it.”
“Technological developments lead to shifts in employment, and we are in that period right now. That’s causing a great deal of uncertainty, but it’s similar to every past technological advancement,” she added. “For example, when motor vehicles were produced and mainstreamed, that put horse and buggy production out of business. Though people in that area lost their jobs, humanity is much more productive because of that technological shift.”
Automating with AI refers to utilizing machine learning, natural language processing and other programs that can accomplish routine tasks and streamline workflow, according to Salesforce.
Huyer also stated that employers should “consider and utilize” AI as a “tool to supplement, not replace, humans with.”
Recently released polling indicates that many Americans still feel highly concerned that they may lose their jobs to AI.
The U.S. technology sector announced 15,503 job cuts in June, totaling 139,156 thus far in 2026, according to a Wednesday report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas. This marks an 83% increase from the 76,214 cuts announced in this sector through June 2025.
“Tech remains the epicenter of this year’s cuts,” Challenger said in a statement. “AI is the dominant force as companies are restructuring around it, automating roles, and reallocating budgets toward new capabilities. The sector is being reshaped in real time.”
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