The AI jobs debate just got messier
A new report finds "high-intensity AI adopters" saw headcount increase 10. Among those companies, entry-level headcount rose by 12%, countering the rhetoric that AI kills junior jobs. AI-related job loss fears grow each time another company announces a round of layoffs .
Key Takeaways
- Through May of 2026, companies announced that close to 90,000 job cuts were tied to AI, and, by some accounts, up to 15% of U.
jobs are projected to be eliminated by AI over the next five years.
- Headcount also rose across functions, including engineering , sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing, and scientist roles.
The strongest job growth among high-intensity adopters was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media, and tech-adjacent firms.
- Recent research from Goldman Sachs found that AI has already erased about 16,000 net jobs per month over the past year, with Gen Z and entry level workers taking the brunt of the burden.
But in tech-forward firms, the report finds that entry-level headcount actually rose by 12%.
- "Lower production costs in these workflows can raise the return to expanding the whole firm, not just the engineering team.
" But companies that buy subscriptions and run pilots, yet did not go on to make sustained investments, don't tend to see any gains in headcount, per the report.
- Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
Stats & Key Facts
- #Among those companies, entry-level headcount rose by 12%, countering the rhetoric that AI kills junior jobs.
- #Among those companies, entry-level headcount rose by 12%, countering the rhetoric that AI kills junior jobs.
- #Through May of 2026, companies announced that close to 90,000 job cuts were tied to AI, and, by some accounts, up to 15% of U.
- #A recent report from Ramp and Revelio Labs, which track enterprise AI spend and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, respectively, complicates that gloomy narrative.
Through May of 2026, companies announced that close to 90,000 job cuts were tied to AI, and, by some accounts, up to 15% of U. jobs are projected to be eliminated by AI over the next five years. Promises from the tech industry that AI will also create new jobs does little to ease fears, especially for the generation wondering if anyone will be hiring when they graduate.
A recent report from Ramp and Revelio Labs, which track enterprise AI spend and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, respectively, complicates that gloomy narrative. The report found that companies spending heavily on AI are growing headcount faster, even in the entry-level roles that many fear are doomed.
Headcount also rose across functions, including engineering , sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing, and scientist roles. The strongest job growth among high-intensity adopters was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media, and tech-adjacent firms. Despite these positive signals, the data isn't as rosy as it seems.
For more details please read the original article at TechCrunch AI.
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