{"id":1200,"date":"2026-04-09T02:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/1200\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T02:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:59:09","slug":"execs-are-ai-washing-but-is-unemployment-really-due-to-artificial-intelligence-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/1200\/","title":{"rendered":"Execs Are ‘AI Washing’ \u2014 But Is Unemployment Really Due To Artificial Intelligence?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AI is quickly becoming the go-to explanation for layoffs across corporate America<\/a>. From ServiceNow, Inc to Block, Inc, and even voices like Larry Fink, the narrative is building: artificial intelligence is coming for jobs. Fink has even warned AI could drive unemployment higher, particularly among younger, white-collar workers.<\/p>\n

It’s a clean story. It’s also a convenient one.<\/p>\n

Because when you look at the data, the reality is far less clear.<\/p>\n

If AI were already displacing workers at scale, you’d expect to see it first in higher-skilled roles \u2014 the very segment most exposed to automation.<\/p>\n

That’s not happening.<\/p>\n

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Recent data shows unemployment among college graduates remains meaningfully below non-degree workers, with the gap still intact and only gradually narrowing \u2014 not collapsing in a way that signals a sudden AI shock. Separate research and analyst commentary have also pointed out that AI has not yet materially contributed to job losses at a macro level.<\/p>\n

In other words, the labor market still looks cyclical \u2014 not structurally disrupted.<\/p>\n

That raises the bigger question: why is AI getting so much credit?<\/p>\n

Part of the answer lies in incentives.<\/p>\n

Framing layoffs as “AI-driven” signals efficiency to investors while avoiding political scrutiny tied to cutting domestic jobs. It also aligns companies with a forward-looking narrative rather than a backward-looking one.<\/p>\n

Take Block, for example. The company has cut a significant portion of its workforce, reported in some cases as high as roughly 40%\u201350%. While automation and efficiency have been cited, analysts and industry voices have pointed to COVID-19 pandemic-era overhiring as a key driver of layoffs. Even executives like Salesforce, Inc\u2019s Marc Benioff arguing companies expanded too rapidly and are now correcting.<\/p>\n

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Reports on Block’s job cuts similarly describe them as a reset after COVID-era hiring, rather than purely AI-driven.<\/p>\n

AI may be part of the story. But it may not be the main story.<\/p>\n

There’s no question AI is helping margins<\/a> \u2014 at least at the edges. Automation tools, copilots and workflow improvements are real.<\/p>\n

But the timeline matters.<\/p>\n

Most companies are still early in deploying AI at scale, with research from McKinsey showing that the majority remain in pilot or experimentation phases and have yet to achieve enterprise-wide impact. That makes it unlikely that AI alone is responsible for the current wave of job cuts.<\/p>\n

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Instead, what we may be seeing is a mix of:<\/p>\n

Post-pandemic overhiring unwind<\/p>\n

Cost discipline returning<\/p>\n

AI providing a convenient narrative overlay<\/p>\n

None of this means AI won’t reshape the workforce. It likely will. But right now, the market may be pulling forward that impact.<\/p>\n

For investors, that distinction is critical. If layoffs are truly AI-driven, the disruption is structural \u2014 and just beginning. If they’re driven by overhiring and margin resets, the cycle may already be further along.<\/p>\n

At the moment, executives are telling one story. The data, at least for now, is telling another.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Chayanuphol per Shutterstock<\/p>\n

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This article Execs Are ‘AI Washing’ \u2014 But Is Unemployment Really Due To Artificial Intelligence?<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI is quickly becoming the go-to explanation for layoffs across corporate America. From ServiceNow, Inc to Block, Inc,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,1513,1512,829,1511],"class_list":{"0":"post-1200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ai","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-block","11":"tag-corporate-america","12":"tag-inc","13":"tag-larry-fink"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}