GoKawiil
Tech News
Some employers that cut jobs this year citing AI, including firms in finance, marketing, law and health, have since rehired staff for the same or similar roles after the technology underperformed, according to staffing firm Robert Half. Executives cited AI's need for more human oversight than expected and its inability to replicate institutional knowledge as reasons for reversing the cuts, in a pattern now dubbed the 'AI boomerang.'
Barclays has become the latest major company to reduce its workforce, citing efficiency gains tied to artificial intelligence investment. The move follows a pattern across industries this year where firms are cutting jobs or slowing hiring while redirecting spending toward AI infrastructure and capabilities.
American Express has announced layoffs affecting thousands of positions, attributing the cuts to its adoption of artificial intelligence tools. The move follows Barclays' announcement a day earlier that it would cut about 5,000 jobs, roughly 5% of its workforce, as part of a similar AI-driven restructuring.
Barclays announced it will eliminate roughly 5,000 positions, representing about 5% of its global workforce. The bank said the cuts stem from efficiency gains brought about by artificial intelligence tools in its operations. The move follows similar AI-linked layoff announcements at Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered.
Dell Technologies stock fell 11% on Wednesday, pulling down Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Oracle, Super Micro and NetApp amid worries that enterprise AI spending won't match the scale of the ongoing data center buildout. Barclays analysts cut ratings on Dell, HPE and NetApp from buy to hold, saying they see no 'meaningful AI inflection' in enterprise demand and attributing recent revenue gains largely to a global memory shortage rather than AI adoption.
Thousands of Barclays employees in the United Kingdom signed an open letter opposing the bank's shift from a two-day to a three-day office requirement, with senior staff expected in four days. The letter asks Barclays to compensate workers for the added commuting expenses the new policy creates.