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[ARTICLE · art-17902] src=news.ycombinator.com pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=↓ negative

Ask HN: Is the AI "Boom" Merely Another Excuse for Layoffs?

A Hacker News user questioned whether the artificial intelligence boom is being used as a justification for corporate layoffs, noting that most hiring occurred during the pandemic and job cuts in 2023-2025 have not yet erased those gains. The user pointed to a CEO who eliminated the entire HR team as evidence that executives are using AI to solve problems they created, while predicting that the number of developers companies need will decline over time.

read1 min publishedMay 29, 2026

Most of the hiring done in the last 5 years was the so called "pandemic boom". Even though we already saw a lot of job shedding in 23, 24, 25, the number of jobs created during the pandemic still eclipses these numbers. I think a lot can be read into on the CEO that "removed the HR team" to solve problems they created.

I'll say this though, over time the number of developers companies will need will be dipping.

source & further reading
news.ycombinator.com — original article Ask HN: Made new model type (not LLM) no idea how to sell it Ask HK: How are you building AI apps today? Ask HN: I hate you. Don't leave me (the AI edition)
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