The half of the companies that have attributed their layoffs to Artificial Intelligence will hire you again in 2027 to perform very similar functions, in positions with another name, according to the forecasts of the consulting firm Gartner.
Despite speculation that AI will be the cause of drastic workforce reductions, especially in customer services, those layoffs have not yet occurred in many cases. According to a Gartner survey of 321 customer service and support managers carried out by the consulting firm in October 2025, only 20% of them have reduced their staff of customer service agents due to AI. Most templates have not undergone any changes, even though they support more clients than before.
Meanwhile, big technology companies continue to insist that AI will be able to do an important part of the work that humans currently do. Just three months ago, Microsoft assured that 30% of its code was already the work of AI, and a few days ago Block announced the dismissal of 40% of its workforce, which represents more than 4,000 layoffs, due to the growing effectiveness of AI.
The latter, however, is a measure that is not known to what extent it is caused by overhiring carried out in many companies during the pandemic and that is now being eliminated with cuts with AI as a pretext, a phenomenon known as AI washing.
Kathy Ross, Senior Analyst Director, Customer Service and Support, Gartneris clear, and points out that «Although AI-motivated layoffs have attracted attention, the reality is more complicated. The most recent workforce reductions have been driven by large-scale economic conditions, rather than automation alone. As companies push the limits of AI and customer expectations rise, they will need to reinvest in human talent to sustain service quality and growth.«.
Emily Potosky, Senior Research Director, Customer Service and Support, Gartneradded that «AI is simply not mature enough to fully replace the experience, empathy and judgment offered by human agents. Relying solely on AI now is premature, and may lead to unintended consequences«.
