The story of Ann Lee Plumb, who was recently fired from Amazon, challenges the notion that people are losing their jobs because they don’t learn AI. In fact, Plumb was the main implementer of AI on his team and used the company’s coding tools so well that Amazon itself included him in its list of ‘Top Users’.
On one hand, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy argues that 16,000 employees were laid off because AI has made the work so easy that fewer people are needed now. But on the other hand, experts like Plumb and many economists believe that this is not completely true. He says that when only people who are experts in AI are being fired, then it is clear that the real reason behind these layoffs is not just technology, but some other internal reasons or strategies of the company.
A game to woo Wall Street?
Along with Amazon, big companies like Expedia, Pinterest and Dow are also blaming AI for their layoffs. But Ann Lee Plumb has a slightly different perspective. He says that companies are taking the name of AI to show themselves better in the stock market.
When a company reduces the number of employees, it shows that it is now doing more work (efficiency) with less expense. This increases the share prices of the company and attracts new investors. Plumb believes that these companies may already have more employees than required, but they are blaming AI for the layoffs so that it can be presented as a ‘progressive story’.
Experts’ Opinion: Is AI Really Ready?
Professor Karan Girotra of Cornell University says that AI is not yet capable enough to replace large numbers of people. According to him, the only benefit that AI is currently providing is that employees complete their work a little quicker. But changing the structure of the entire company and running it with fewer people is not so easy, it takes a lot of time.
In fact, a major reason for layoffs in companies like Amazon could be that they had done excessive recruitment during the Corona period, which they are now reducing. A report by Goldman Sachs also says that the impact of AI on the job market around the world is still very less. Although its impact is beginning to be seen in the marketing, designing and tech sectors, the number of layoffs being talked about in the name of AI is actually not that big.
attitude of other companies
Pinterest: This company clearly said that it is laying off 15% of its employees so that it can work on its ‘AI-first strategy’. Their aim is to replace old employees with new people who are experts in running AI.
Meta: Mark Zuckerberg believes that the year 2026 will be the time when AI will completely change the way we work. However, the main reason for the layoffs happening at Meta right now is due to changes in their ‘Metaverse’ department (Virtual Reality).
Home Depot: On the other hand, this company has also laid off 800 of its employees, but they honestly made it clear that it has nothing to do with AI. He has taken this step only to increase the speed of the company’s work and make it agile.
Amazon has reduced more than 30,000 jobs so far, but a big contradiction is seen here. On one hand, the company is advising its employees to become ‘curious about AI’ for the future, on the other hand, it is also showing the way out to those ‘power users’ like Plumb who were already adept in using AI.
From this it becomes clear that AI is playing a dual role in today’s corporate world. It is not only a means of new technology and improvement, but has also become a convenient excuse for companies to reduce their expenses and brighten their image in the stock market.
