Survey: 30% of Companies Plan to Replace Some Employees with AI Next Year
The latest survey by AIResumeBuilder.com reveals that 30% of U.S. companies plan to replace employees with AI next year, with IT and accounting industries most affected. 59% of surveyed leaders expect AI to replace at least 10% of the current workforce, and 10% expect it to replace more than 50%. Meanwhile, a Challenger report states that AI-related layoffs reached 31,039 in October, and Egon Zehnder research shows CFOs remain cautious about AI adoption.
Key Findings
- A report released on Friday by resume writing company AIResumeBuilder.com found that30% of companies plan to use AI to replace some employees next year, as the technology drives increased workplace automation, impacting industries including information technology and accounting.
- The survey results show that among business leaders who anticipate AI-related layoffs,59% said the technology will replace 10% or more of their current workforce. Another 10% of respondents expect AI to replace 50% or more of their workforce.
- As AI adoption becomes increasingly widespread, AIResumeBuilder.com career advisor Rachel Serwetz said in an interview: "Leaders need to think about how to keep employees strategically relevant without AI replacing them." She noted that AI can be used to automate monotonous tasks, allowing employees to focus on more strategic work and develop new projects, thereby creating opportunities for business expansion.
Deeper Analysis
U.S. employers announced layoffs of153,074 peoplein October, up 175% from the same period last year, partly due to AI-driven automation. This data comes from a report released last week by career transition firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Among private sector employers, cost cutting was the top reason for October layoffs, resulting in 50,437 job losses; AI ranked second, causing 31,039 job cuts. So far this year, AI has led to a cumulative 48,414 job losses.
Despite AI's rapid adoption across industries, according to research released in September by leadership consulting firm Egon Zehnder,most financial leaders are still in the early stages of applying AI to their own functions。
Arun Dhingra, global head of Egon Zehnder's CFO and Audit Committee Chair practice, said in a press release at the time: "CFOs have a clear view of AI's promise, but they are equally clear that achieving it will take time. We see financial leaders taking a thoughtful, phased approach to adopting the technology—with an emphasis on building digital literacy and capability in their teams so that AI enhances human expertise rather than replacing it."
Among the CFOs surveyed by Egon Zehnder,nearly one-fifth said they had cut jobs due to AI implementation, most commonly in accounting departments (88%), followed by financial planning and analysis (38%) and treasury (33%). The report said: "While the scale of layoffs remains limited, many leaders are redefining roles to enable teams to focus on higher-value, more strategic work."
According to AIResumeBuilder.com's research, the industries most likely to see AI-related layoffs next year include:information technology, computer software, financial services, accounting, human resources, manufacturing, and retail。
Respondents believe that customer service, administrative or clerical roles, and IT and technical support positions are most susceptible to automation.
AIResumeBuilder.com surveyed a total of1,250 U.S. business leaders。