AI-Driven Job Losses Hit Record Highs as Key Sectors Shift From Mass Hiring to Monthly Cuts
Industries with established AI use cases have swung from adding 55,000 jobs monthly at their 2022 peak to shedding roughly 11,000 per month in recent quarters. May 2026 also set a record with 38,579 AI-attributed layoffs in a single month.
A striking shift is underway in the U.S. labor market. Industries with well-established artificial intelligence use cases have moved from a hiring boom to consistent monthly losses, shedding an average of around 11,000 jobs per month over the past three months. The data, published by The Kobeissi Letter, represents one of the most concrete signs to date that AI-powered automation is fundamentally altering white-collar employment.
The sectors caught in this reversal span a wide range of knowledge-based and administrative work. The list includes management consulting, graphic design, office administration, telephone call centers, and computer systems. Also affected are software publishers, web search portals, data processing firms, movie production companies, broadcasters, publishers, and document preparation services — industries that, not long ago, were among the most active hirers in the economy.
The scale of the turnaround is hard to overstate. At their hiring peak in 2022, these same industries were collectively adding up to 55,000 jobs per month. Since mid-2023, however, net job gains have appeared in only two individual months. The dominant trend has firmly turned negative, and it has stayed there.
"The impact of AI on the labor market is becoming increasingly visible," The Kobeissi Letter noted in its post accompanying the data.
The sector-level picture aligns with a separate and equally alarming set of figures on direct layoff announcements. In May alone, artificial intelligence was cited as the reason behind 38,579 job cuts — the highest single-month total ever recorded. That figure made May the third consecutive month in which AI-attributed layoffs increased. Cumulatively through May, AI has been responsible for 87,714 job cuts in 2026, accounting for roughly 22% of all recorded layoffs during that period. Remarkably, that 2026 total has already surpassed the entire 2025 full-year figure of 54,836, with more than half the year still remaining.
While economists and labor analysts continue to debate the true scope of AI-driven displacement, independent survey data from Gallup adds another layer to the story. The research found a measurable connection between AI usage habits and layoff exposure. Workers who were laid off tended to be those who used AI tools infrequently or not at all.
The gap is most pronounced in the technology sector. There, employees who used AI tools less than once a month were found to be three times more likely to face layoffs compared to colleagues who used them on at least a monthly basis. The implication is stark: familiarity with AI is increasingly functioning as a form of job protection, not just a productivity tool.
What happens next remains an open question. The trend could plateau, accelerate, or — if adoption accelerates among vulnerable workers — partially stabilize. But the early evidence is consistent and directional. Artificial intelligence is redrawing the employment map, and the workers with the least exposure to these tools appear to face the greatest risk when the next round of cuts arrives.
