High-Salary Professions Now a Source of Unemployment, Here's Why

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - High-income jobs, especially in the technology industry, are no longer a top priority for companies seeking new talent. Even positions requiring artificial intelligence (AI) skills, which were previously highly sought after amid rapid technological advancement, are beginning to feel the impact of this trend.

Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis stated that companies are choosing to hold back or cut back on information technology (IT) recruitment because they remain haunted by inflationary pressures and global economic uncertainty. “Why should they hire AI specialists for something that might not generate returns?” Janulaitis said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Monday (22/6/2026).

However, AI still plays an important role in hiring. This was evident at ride-hailing platform Lyft, which is reviewing all existing positions to see how AI could change those roles. This comes just six months after Lyft’s Executive Vice President, Jason Vogrinec, explained that software engineers were not allowed to use AI tools during job interviews.

Meanwhile, an analysis by consulting firm Janco Associates, based on data from the US Department of Labor, revealed that the unemployment rate in the IT job market was 3.8% in April, a slight increase from 3.6% in March.

Layoffs have also continued throughout early 2026. Several businesses, particularly in the technology sector, have stated that AI is one of the reasons for staff reductions. AI was the reason Meta cut around 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce. The company explained it is working to streamline operations and fund investments in AI.

Nike also reduced its workforce by 2%, or 1,400 employees, mostly from the technology department, citing the need to simplify global operations. Snap announced it would lay off 16% of its employees, or 1,000 roles, to improve efficiency. Other technology fields, such as telecommunications and data processing, experienced an 11% reduction, or 342,000 jobs, with the peak of this trend occurring in November 2022.