Google, IBM, and Dropbox Shift Focus to AI, Putting Big Tech jobs in Jeopardy

Renowned tech companies like Google, IBM, and Dropbox announce they are focusing on Artificial Intelligence, citing it as the prominent reason for the upcoming enormous tech layoffs.

The rough market conditions have forced many big companies to alter their workforces and lay off their employees to meet the costs and make profits. These companies have, time and again, given justifications and reasoning for the massive layoffs since the last year.

Leading companies like IBM, Google, and Dropbox have consciously mentioned in their employee layoff letters that they will focus on Artificial Intelligence, and thus, workforce cuts are being made so that the company can invest in AI.

Dropbox, a leading cloud storage-providing company, announced layoffs recently at the end of April. The CEO of Dropbox, Drew Houston, announced they would make a 16% cut in their workforce globally. 

In the layoff memo, he wrote,“The AI ​​age of computing has finally arrived. We have believed for many years that AI would give us new superpowers and completely transform knowledge work. And we’ve been building toward that future for a long time, as this year’s product pipeline will demonstrate.”

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, also announced laying off almost 12,000 jobs (6% of the total workforce) in January 2023. He did not mention the exact reasons but said that the layoffs would impact the overall company’s functioning.

“We’re getting ready to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers, and businesses. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly.”

– Sundar Pichai, CEO at Google.

Another top company, IBM, has hinted towards the pause on hiring for roles like Human Resources and other non-consumer-based positions that AI could easily replace.

In a conversation with Bloomberg, Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, said, “I could easily see 30% of that or about 7,800 jobs getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period.” 

Meanwhile, another spokesperson from the company denied the “pause” and said, “IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we’re being very selective when filling jobs that don’t directly touch our clients or technology.”

Since AI is becoming more advanced and intellectual every day, it possesses the full potential to replace human jobs, putting big tech jobs at a greater risk. While AI has already automated tasks and functions for many industries, posing to a decline in human employment, the big companies announcing their plans to focus on AI have caused fear and panic amongst tech employees worldwide.