Business
Amazon Announcement Shows Why Workers Are Right to Worry About AI
The once-hypothetical cuts are coming, whether employees are ready or not.
On Tuesday, Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, confirmed the fears of many workers in the age of artificial intelligence: He said he expects the technology will lead to job cuts at the tech giant.
In his memo, which was posted online, Jassy did not announce immediate layoffs. He said that, in the next few years, “efficiency gains” from AI would translate to a smaller corporate workforce.
Marlo Lyons, a certified executive coach, told Business Insider that jobs will inevitably change — including outright disappearances. “So is your job at risk? Absolutely. If you don’t get on board with AI, yes, absolutely, you’re going to lose your job.”
Amazon is now one of the largest companies to explicitly state that AI will impact its employees’ jobs.
It’s not all outright layoffs — at least not yet
BI previously reported that roles that include tasks that AI can perform are disappearing from job boards faster than positions that have fewer tasks that AI can accomplish.
Shopify’s CEO said in April that, before hiring anyone new, employees must prove AI can’t do the job better. Duolingo plans to phase out contractors and replace them with AI. And Salesforce’s CEO, Marc Benioff, has said that the company might not hire engineers in 2025 because those already on the payroll are getting so much more done thanks to AI tools.
The industry you’re in matters. Office workers appear to be particularly at risk. In late May, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, suggested AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs. Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said earlier this month that he expects the impact of AI on white-collar jobs to be so significant that it will lead to a recession.
Christian Schneider, the CEO of New York-based startup fileAI, told BI that he’s already seeing job losses in corners of the tech industry, and he expects AI to exacerbate the trend.
“I’m totally expecting a tightening,” he said. “I think when we look into tech layoffs, it’s so apparent that something is changing.”
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Melissa Swift, the founder and CEO of work consultancy Anthrome Insight, told BI that productivity hasn’t always increased to the same degree as tech advances. It often “ticks up slowly, like a kiddie roller coaster going up the first big hill.”
Those who aren’t keeping up risk being left behind. And refusing to acknowledge the risk doesn’t make it go away, Lyons said.
“So if you’re redesigning the workplace, and how things are getting done — whether it’s a workflow or structures of teams, or the same thing with AI — you can hold on with white knuckles, but it’s still going to happen around you,” Lyons said.
Of course, not all the jobs affected by advancements in AI will mean the workers filling them will be laid off. Jassy acknowledged in his statement that Amazon will “need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”
Schneider said some jobs will change so that typical back-office, rote tasks will fall to AI and allow more workers to take on people-facing roles. Or, officegoers once responsible for pulling and preparing data might now move to the end of the process to, for example, check the quality of the results AI produces.
While some jobs will disappear and others will evolve, Schneider said, workers are often good at adapting.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t want to underestimate people’s drive,” he said.
The videos seem realistic, but a CBC investigation revealed that they were AI-generated, created by online hiring and recruiting firm Nexa, an AI company that develops software other companies can use to recruit new hires.
“I’ll be honest, we do that for fun,” says Divy Nayyar, Nexa’s founder and CEO, according to the report. “You know, some of the videos went extremely viral.”
Nayyar described the videos as a “subconscious placement” of advertising, saying the company created the “Josh” persona as a way of connecting with young people just out of school who are looking for work.
Canadian employers appear to be showing increased interest in conducting job interviews using AI technology, according to a previous report.
‘AI racism’
However, Nexa’s campaign is highly problematic, according to experts.
BBC News, East Midlands
BBCThe government has launched a consultation on a new code to stop people being “unfairly penalised” by private car park operators.
It follows concerns raised by drivers including Rosey Hudson, who was asked to pay £1,906 for taking more than five minutes to pay in a car park in Derby.
The government said the new Private Parking Code of Practice “aims to create a fairer, more transparent private parking system”.
The British Parking Association, one of two trade associations that oversees the industry, has said it will work closely with the government throughout the consultation.
Local growth minister and Nottingham North and Kimberley MP Alex Norris said: “From shopping on your local high street to visiting a loved one in hospital, parking is part of everyday life. But too many people are being unfairly penalised.
“That’s why our code will tackle misleading tactics and confusing processes, bringing vital oversight and transparency to raise standards across the board.”
The previous government published a code of practice in February 2022 and it was due to come into effect by the end of 2023.
However, it was withdrawn following legal challenges launched by several parking firms.
This meant the private parking sector has been left to regulate itself, through two accredited trade associations called the British Parking Association (BPA) and International Parking Community (IPC).
Car park operators, which are members of these associations, can obtain drivers’ names and addresses from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and issue parking charge notices (PCNs) for allegedly breaching terms and conditions.
This has led to drivers being asked to pay hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds for infringements such as taking too long to pay, or keying in their vehicle registration plates incorrectly.
The government said its new measures would prevent charges caused by issues such as payment machine errors, accidental typos, or poor mobile signal.
However, the AA believes the government’s proposals do not go far enough.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy, said: “This long-awaited consultation will not please drivers and suggests that government is bending the knee to the private parking industry.”
His concerns include a £100 cap on parking charges, which is higher than the £50 previously proposed.
“We urge all drivers to complete the consultation and submit their views and experiences when dealing with private parking firms,” he said.
Hannah RobinsonStatistics published by the DVLA suggest private car park operators are issuing more PCNs than ever before.
They paid the DVLA for 12.8 million keeper details in the last financial year, which is a 673% increase since 2012.
“While this partly reflects more parking spaces, the current system lacks independent oversight and sufficient transparency,” the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.
“At present, operators can avoid sanctions for poor practice, leaving motorists vulnerable to unfair or incorrect charges. The new compliance framework will ensure accountability.”
Under the proposals, operators that breach the code may stop being able to get drivers’ details from the DVLA.
The eight-week consultation is due to close on 5 September and people can give their views online.
The BPA said it would work closely with the government throughout the consultation, but said the new code must allow for “proper enforcement”.
“Without proper enforcement, parking quickly becomes a free-for-all, with some people taking advantage at the expense of others,” it said in a statement.
“When spaces are misused, it’s often at the expense of those who need them most, such as disabled people, parents with young children and local residents.
“We believe parking systems must strike a balance: they should deter selfish and anti-social behaviour, but they must also be fair, proportionate, and transparent.”
The National Trust has announced plans to cut 6% of its current workforce, about 550 jobs, partly blaming an inflated pay bill and tax rises introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The heritage and conservation charity said it was under “sustained cost pressures beyond our control”.
These include the increase in National Insurance contributions by employers and the National Living Wage rise from April, which the National Trust said had driven up wage costs by more than £10m a year.
The cost-cutting measures are part of a plan to find £26m worth of savings.
“Although demand and support for our work are growing with yearly increases in visitors and donations; increasing costs are outstripping this growth,” the charity said in a statement.
“Pay is the biggest part of our costs, and the recent employer’s National Insurance increase and National Living Wage rise added more than £10m to our annual wage bill.”
A 45-day consultation period with staff began on Thursday and the Trust – which currently has about 9,500 employees – said it was working with the Prospect union “to minimise compulsory redundancies”.
Prospect said though cost pressures were partly to blame, “management decisions” also contributed to the Trust’s financial woes.
The union’s deputy general secretary, Steve Thomas, said “once again it is our member who will have to pay the price”.
“Our members are custodians of the country’s cultural, historic and natural heritage – cuts of this scale risk losing institutional knowledge and skills which are vital to that mission,” he said.
The Trust is running a voluntary redundancy scheme, and is expecting that to significantly reduce compulsory redundancies, a spokeswoman said.
The job cuts will affect all staff from management down, and everyone whose job is at risk will be offered a suitable alternative where available, the spokeswoman added.
Following consultations, which will finish in mid-to-late August, the cuts will be made in the autumn.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the rise in National Insurance contributions by employers in last October’s Budget.
But the move led to strong criticism from many firms, with retailers warning that High Street job losses would be “inevitable” when coupled with other cost increases.
The hike in employer NICs is forecast to raise £25bn in revenues by the end of the parliament.
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