Challenger: AI Isn’t a ‘Jobpocalypse,’ but Still Leads Layoffs

AI will not be an entire catastrophe for jobs but, however corporations are citing it greater than every other motive when asserting layoffs, in line with a brand new report from Challenger, Grey & Christmas.

The worldwide outplacement agency’s newest report mentioned AI accounted for 40% of 97,006 job cuts by US-based employers in Could, the best month-to-month whole since Challenger started monitoring AI as a motive for layoffs in 2023. To this point in 2026, Challenger says 87,714 cuts have been attributed to AI, far surpassing the full of 54,836 in 2025.

“AI is not but the jobpocalypse some predicted,” Andy Challenger, labor and office professional and chief income officer of Challenger, Grey & Christmas, mentioned in a press release accompanying the report. “Like spreadsheets and e-mail earlier than it, the know-how will in the end make staff extra productive, however our knowledge reveals corporations are already appearing on it, citing AI for extra cuts than every other motive.”

Total, Challenger discovered that Could 2026 noticed the best variety of layoffs since 2020, when 397,016 job cuts have been introduced throughout the top of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Expertise stays the main sector for layoffs by “a large margin,” the report mentioned.

The extent to which AI is guilty for layoffs is very contested, together with, not surprisingly, by these whose corporations are immediately concerned within the AI increase. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman just lately mentioned companies were “AI washing” their layoffs, blaming the nascent know-how for his or her choices when different enterprise elements have been at play.

Elsewhere, Apollo World Administration’s chief economist Torsten Sløk wrote final week that he sees “zero evidence of job losses due to AI,” citing the ADP Nationwide Employment Report.

Outdoors of AI, Challenger’s report discovered that up to now this 12 months, the following largest causes attributed to layoffs are “market and financial circumstances,” which have been cited for 69,645 cuts; “closings,” which have been cited for 66,733 cuts; and “restructuring,” which has been attributed to 52,249.