Companies continue heavy investment in AI despite limited financial returns, with MIT finding 95% of AI adopters reporting no ROI while 5% extract millions in value. Layoffs affected 65% of companies in the past 12 months; 68% cited cost-cutting, 32% cited skill mismatch, 31% cited company strategy shifts, and 27% cited AI adoption. Nearly half of employers prefer to retain workers with strong AI skills, and many hiring managers prioritize AI proficiency. About 19% of recently laid-off workers blame AI adoption for their dismissal, higher among Gen Z and millennials. Two-thirds of laid-off workers are reskilling, including coding, AI fundamentals, and prompt-engineering, and over half use YouTube and online tutorials to learn.
Companies are investing heavily in AI, in spite of the fact that they aren't yet seeing a big return. A recent report from MIT found that 95% of organizations that have adopted AI haven't seen any return on the investment at all. (However, the 5% of companies who are seeing the return are "extracting millions in value," according to the report.)
While 68% of companies identified cost-cutting as the reason for layoffs, 32% mentioned "skill mismatch," and 31% and 27% cited "company strategy shift" and "AI adoption," respectively. In fact, almost half (49%) of employers say they're more likely to retain the workers with strong AI skills. Likewise, when it comes to new hires, employers want workers who understand AI. About one-third (29%) of hiring managers said they are exclusively hiring employees who are proficient with AI.
Nearly one in five recently laid-off workers (19%) say AI adoption contributed to them being let go, and this increases for younger workers: 23% of Gen Z workers said AI was behind their layoff, as do 21% of millennials, compared to just 14% of Gen X and baby boomers. Many laid-off workers are taking action. Since losing their jobs, two thirds are focusing on reskilling. A quarter are studying coding, while 22% are studying AI fundamentals and another 22% are studying prompt-engineering.
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