Corporate America Is Firing Its Way to Record Profits and Calling It Progress
Corporate America realized it can do more with fewer people — and AI gave executives the perfect cover. After years of hiring due to the pandemic boom, companies are now dressing up layoffs as “efficiency gains,” cutting staff not out of need, but to boost margins and prove they can run lean in the age of automation.
Layoff roulette: AmazonAMZN announced 14K corporate job cuts on Tuesday as part of a broader plan to eliminate up to 30K positions — roughly 10% of its white-collar workforce — in a push to streamline operations. UPSUPS revealed it has already slashed 48K jobs this year, far exceeding earlier estimates of 20K as it doubles down on cost efficiency. Meanwhile, ParamountPARA is cutting 2K employees across CBS News, MTV, Nickelodeon, and BET after its Skydance merger, targeting $2B in savings.
- Amazon executives said the cuts will “reduce bureaucracy” and refocus on “our biggest bets,” with CEO Andy Jassy noting AI will shrink its corporate workforce over time.
- Molson CoorsTAP, TargetTGT, and General MotorsGM also announced layoffs in October, adding tens of thousands to an already stagnant job market.
AI is the Convenient Scapegoat
Companies are now openly crediting AI for making layoffs possible — and in some cases, using it to justify halting new hiring altogether. CheggCHGG laid off 45% of its staff this week as it pivots to an AI model that automatically answers students’ questions. JPMorganJPM said it has “a very strong bias against having the reflective response” to hire more people, while WalmartWMT plans to keep its headcount flat for the next three years despite rising sales. Goldman SachsGS echoed a similar sentiment, telling employees it will “constrain headcount growth through the end of the year” and eliminate roles that AI can handle more efficiently.
- As automation reshapes the labor market, nearly 2M Americans have been jobless for 27 weeks or longer, with those aged 25–29 facing the slowest income growth since 2010.
- JPMorgan Chase Institute’s Chris Wheat noted that younger workers are “underperforming prior generations in terms of the life-cycle income path” as fewer job transitions curb wage gains.
The cost of efficiency: The system feels rigged — profits are soaring, executives tout productivity gains, and yet thousands of educated workers are being left behind in a market that’s moving on without them. Corporate America is posting 15% year-over-year profit growth this cycle, even as real income gains sink to near-decade lows, according to the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Record earnings and AI-fueled efficiency may thrill investors, but for many workers, it’s starting to look like progress left them off the payroll.