AI driving thousands of job cuts worldwide

Firms from Amazon to Microsoft shedding jobs, with tech adoption cited as reason

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The global march of artificial intelligence continues, and in its shadow, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been or will be axed by corporations.

Among the latest major corporations to shed staff is US tech company IBM, which plans to cut thousands of jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Year to date, companies have cited AI adoption as the reason for cutting over 50,000 jobs, although many believe the impact to be much larger.

According to a Bloomberg Intelligence report, global banks alone will cut as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as AI takes over tasks currently carried out by humans.

Here is a roundup of recent layoffs by major companies that have cited the adoption of AI and other reasons for paring their workforce.

AMAZON

The leading online retailer announced in October 14,000 corporate job cuts. The company’s human resources head Beth Galetti said AI represented the “most transformative technology” the company has seen since the Internet.

Reuters first reported that Amazon was planning to cut as many as 30,000 employees globally.

IBM

IBM revealed plans in November for thousands of job cuts in the fourth quarter of 2025, as part of a shift in its focus towards its high-margin software segment. The company says the retrenchment affects a “low single-digit percentage” of its workforce.

The company has also invested heavily into AI-linked cloud technologies, but recorded a slowdown in growth in October in the key cloud software segment.

OMNICOM

On Dec 1, advertising giant Omnicom announced it would retrench over 4,000 employees and consolidate several renowned advertising agency brands following its US$13 billion (S$16.8 billion) acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG).

Omnicom shared that the layoffs are a result of the IPG integration and would primarily affect administrative roles, alongside some leadership positions.