Corporate America is getting rocked by historic rounds of white-collar layoffs, leading some to wonder: Has AI finally come for their jobs? While the proliferation of generative and agentic artificial intelligence is playing a role, recent job cut announcements from companies like Amazon, UPS and Target are about a lot more than just the advance of new technology. The firms, which each announced layoffs in recent weeks totaling more than 60,000 roles eliminated this year, said they’re trying to cut corporate bloat, streamline operations and adjust to new business models. But in the absence of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report, which has gone dark amid the government shutdown, the layoff announcements have raised questions about the strength of the labor market and if it’s the start of an AI-driven, white-collar recession. Some companies have outright said they’re replacing workers with AI. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in May the company was able to shrink its headcount by about 40%, in part because of AI. Duolingo said in April it’ll stop using contractors for work that AI can handle.

Full report : Corporate giants Amazon, UPS and Target each announced layoffs in recent weeks totaling more than 60,000 jobs cut this year.