Layoffs Get Blamed on AI, But 90% of Executives Say It's Not Boosting Output
Apple just cut 200-plus jobs while rebuilding Siri, but new research shows AI-driven layoffs often backfire - and most frontline workers still have no real access to AI at all.
What happened: Apple confirmed it is cutting more than 200 jobs, about 100 from the underperforming Vision Pro team and another 100 from Siri and generative-AI groups, as it rebuilds its voice assistant on new AI architecture. The move lands amid a broader pattern: an Atlanta Federal Reserve survey found roughly 90% of executives say AI hasn't yet boosted their company's productivity, even as AI-linked layoffs keep happening. Separately, a Dayforce survey of nearly 5,700 frontline workers found AI tools, training and clear guidance mostly stop at the manager's desk, never reaching the shop floor, warehouse or call center.
Why it matters: For workers, the gap between AI hype and results isn't abstract, it's showing up as job cuts justified by a technology that, by executives' own admission, mostly isn't paying off yet. Research analyzing years of layoff announcements and employee reviews found that cutting staff because of AI tanks morale, and morale is one of the strongest predictors of whether AI actually raises productivity. Meanwhile frontline employees, more than half the workforce, mostly get the surveillance side of AI, dash-cam monitoring, coaching flags, without the training that might make their jobs easier.
The mechanism, plainly: Public companies feel pressure to show AI investment turning into profit fast, and cutting headcount is the quickest lever, so AI becomes the official reason for layoffs whether or not the technology caused any efficiency gain. But the same research found stock prices barely moved on more than half of these announcements; the market isn't clearly rewarding the strategy. On the frontline, the problem is structural: scheduling, pay, staffing and training still live in separate systems, so a manager can't get one clear AI-assisted answer when several things go wrong at once, and only 6% of firms say AI is well integrated into daily frontline work.
The rollout: Apple says it will create new roles alongside the cuts, funneling talent into rebuilding Siri, while also raising Mac and iPad prices and rolling out a device leasing plan to offset AI-driven memory-chip costs. Elsewhere, logistics firm Kenco and pollster Ipsos are testing a different playbook: company-wide training, warehouse-specific tools, and inviting frontline employees to help decide where AI gets used, rather than imposing it top-down. Researchers say firms that share AI's gains and involve workers early are the ones most likely to see real productivity returns.