AI-based automation: labor market restructuring accelerated

AI-related layoffs worldwide

According to recent American data, the number of announced layoffs jumped sharply in the fall of 2025: in October, an official announcement was received about the elimination of 153 thousand jobs, which represents a 175 percent increase on an annual basis. Among the reasons, AI-based automation was the second most frequently cited factor, with nearly 48,000 direct job losses.

In addition to the technology sector, large-scale restructurings have also occurred in the logistics and services sectors. Amazon announced the layoff of about 14,000 office workers in the fall, while the company’s management previously indicated that many current tasks will require fewer human resources as AI spreads. HP expects to eliminate up to 6,000 positions in the next three years as a result of the wider introduction of AI.

Salesforce has cut 4,000 customer service jobs and is replacing these tasks with AI-based digital agents. UPS laid off 48,000 employees last year, partly citing operational rationalization enabled by automation and machine learning.

Similar processes can be observed in Europe: Lufthansa plans to replace around 4,000 jobs with AI systems by 2030, while Swedish fintech Klarna recently laid off nearly 40 percent of its employees as part of efficiency-enhancing reorganizations.

Cost-cutting or real technological change?

According to experts, AI often appears in corporate communications as an “umbrella term” for cost-cutting decisions, but the maturity of the technology actually makes it possible to slim down or eliminate many jobs. For management, the AI ​​reference is increasingly a legitimate reason for organizational transformations.

Similar expectations are emerging in Hungary. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs report, 41 percent of domestic companies expect to reduce their workforce by 2030 as a result of the introduction of AI.

Not disappearance, but transformation

Based on company feedback, it is not always a question of complete job elimination. A common solution is to redefine jobs: routine tasks are taken over by AI systems, while human work shifts towards higher value-added, supervisory, analytical or creative activities.

According to international surveys, nearly a fifth of financial managers have already eliminated certain positions following the introduction of AI, but they emphasize that in many cases the goal is to organize work more efficiently, not simply reduce staff numbers.

Moreover, the development of AI no longer only affects administrative or lower-skilled areas. Generative AI models are performing increasingly complex tasks, including sub-processes of software development, which is transforming the work of highly skilled professionals.

Preparation at the company and EU level

The European Union’s AI Act, which came into force in 2025, already requires companies using AI to adequately prepare their employees. In addition, the European Commission presented the Apply AI strategy, which supports the integration of AI in key sectors of the economy with targeted measures, with a special focus on the development of AI skills.