These 8 Giant Companies Have Cut Thousands of Staff Due to AI, Human Workers Replaced by Robots
Jakarta — The artificial intelligence (AI) transformation is no longer merely a technological experiment. In 2026, AI has become the primary strategy for major global companies to cut costs and boost efficiency.
As a result, thousands of employees have lost their jobs, particularly in entry-level and white-collar positions.
This shift has even been described as the beginning of the ‘death’ of entry-level jobs. A number of technology company leaders have openly stated that many human roles will be replaced by automated systems and AI agents in the near future.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in 2025 that he was confident AI would replace a significant number of customer service roles currently handled by humans, both via telephone and online.
Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei went further, warning that AI could eliminate 50 per cent of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. This warning was reinforced by the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which identified bank tellers, administrative assistants, customer service staff, and retail workers as the professions most vulnerable to AI replacement.
The following are eight major companies that have already carried out workforce reductions in line with AI adoption.
- Klarna
The buy-now-pay-later company has become a prime example of AI-driven restructuring. In 2022, Klarna had approximately 7,000 employees. The figure now stands at around 3,000.
CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has openly stated that the number is expected to fall below 2,000 by 2030. In 2024, Klarna launched an AI assistant that now handles a workload equivalent to 700 full-time employees, from customer enquiries to refund processing.
- UPS
In early 2025, UPS announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs — one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s 116-year history. CEO Carol Tomé directly pointed to new technology, including machine learning, as the factor enabling such efficiencies. Tasks such as creating proposals for sales teams, which previously required specialist pricing teams, are now handled automatically.
- Duolingo
The language learning application declared itself an “AI-first” company in 2025. CEO Luis von Ahn explained in an internal email that AI would handle content creation, performance evaluation, and recruitment decisions.