Transcription
The future of work is changing very fast. It is not something far away at all. It is already happening.
Two of the biggest tech companies in the world have just shown us what that actually looks like. Thousands of jobs are being cut as we speak. This is not mainly because of a weak economy, by the way. It is because of artificial intelligence.
In 2026, a powerful and extremely unsettling trend is sweeping across corporate America. Major US companies, especially in tech, are laying off tens of thousands of employees and not in response to economic collapse necessarily, although the US economy is weakening, but as part of a fundamental restructuring driven by artificial intelligence.
At Microsoft, the approach is very quiet. The company is offering so-called voluntary retirement buyouts to many employees in the United States. In fact, about 7% of its US workforce could be affected, and that's thousands and thousands of people. These are not forced layoffs, uh, but instead Microsoft is encouraging long-term employees to leave on their own terms. So, this is a nice way to say we we would love to lay you off, but we're just being nice and letting you do it yourself. Workers qualify if their age plus years at the company equals 70 or more. And so, effectively, this allows Microsoft to reduce staff without major public backlash.
At Meta Platforms, the strategy is very different. The company is cutting jobs directly. They're not shy about it. The company plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce and that is actually thousands and thousands of employees as well. On top of that, the company is freezing hiring for 6,000 open roles. This is a clear and very aggressive move to shrink the company. Many employees had already been worried about earlier cuts and now those fears are becoming reality.
So why are both companies the biggest tech giants in the world cutting jobs at the same exact time? Well, the answer is very simple. AI. Both Microsoft and Meta are spending huge amounts of money on artificial intelligence. So effectively they want to reroute their uh financing their operating costs from payroll to investing in AI. Microsoft is expected to invest over $100 billion and Meta plans to spend as much as 135 billion on AI. These are massive truly massive numbers to to fund this. Companies are cutting costs in other areas and labor is one of those biggest costs. It's it's an overhead that they all want to get rid of.
Now neither company has directly said this in their internal messaging of course but the meaning is very clear. Job cuts are helping to pay for new investments and AI is now seen as a primary primary focus. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been very open in public. He has said that AI is reducing the need for large teams. Tasks that once needed many people can now be done by uh just one skilled worker using AI tools.
Now at Microsoft the message is very similar as well. CEO Satya Nadella has spoken about how AI is boosting productivity. He said the AI is already doing up to 30% of the company's coding work and that is a huge huge shift. It means fewer developers may be needed in the future. And in fact, as AI is is advancing, they will certainly see a reduction in their labor force. Microsoft's AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, made an even stronger claim. He said AI could replace most white collar jobs within 12 to 18 months. That is a very short timeline if you think about that. Just 12 to 18 months. That is nothing. It suggests that the impact of AI could come much faster than many people expect.
And this is not just happening at Microsoft or Meta. It is spreading across the tech industry and beyond.
"If we were to hire a new college graduate today and I have a choice between two. One that have that is no clue what AI is and one that is expert in using AI. I would hire the one who's expert in using AI. I would advise that every college student, every every teacher should encourage their student to to go use AI. Every college student should graduate and be an expert in AI. And every everybody, if you're a carpenter, if you're, you know, electrician, go use AI. Go see what it can do to transform your current job."
Companies are cutting jobs and slowing hiring. For example, Block Inc. cut a large part of its workforce earlier this year and the reason was the same. AI is making companies more efficient and they don't need to cover payroll. The pattern is very very clear. Companies want to do more work with fewer people and AI allows them to do that. This changes how businesses think about hiring and it also changes what they expect from workers. For employees, this means job security is becoming less certain. Think about the impact that it has on the US economy and the global economy as well. Even skilled workers are feeling pressure. Companies now want people who can work with AI tools and they want workers who can produce more value on their own.
The shift is only beginning. Of course, AI is still developing and it will become more powerful over time. That means the impact on jobs could grow even larger and employees have more and more pressure coming at them from different directions. Microsoft and Meta may be using different methods. One is quiet, the other is very direct. But the result is the same. The workforce is shrinking as AI grows. The bigger message is very clear as well. AI is not just changing technology. It is changing the job market right now. It is changing our economy. The real question is not if this will affect everyone. The real question is how soon it will reach each industry. This is not just about tech. It's about multiple industries being affected at the same exact time.
The implications are of course profound. This is not a temporary correction or a cyclical downturn. This is a structural transformation of the labor market. Companies are moving from labor intensive models to AI driven efficiency where fewer employees are needed to produce equal or greater output. And for workers, this means rising uncertainty. Even highly skilled white collar roles are no longer insulated from disruption. Hiring is slowing, roles are being consolidated, and expectations are increasing as AI becomes embedded in everyday workflows. In short, uh this year marks a turning point. US companies are no longer just experimenting with AI. They are reorganizing around it. And in that transition, large portions of the US workforce is being left behind literally.
Thank you so much for watching. I certainly appreciate you being here. Thank you for subscribing on YouTube, Substack, and Patreon. I would love to see more of you join those platforms to stay connected just in case. And I look forward to seeing you here tomorrow. Take care.