{"id":884313,"date":"2026-01-12T06:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/one-reason-ceos-tie-layoffs-to-ai-it-motivates-remaining-employees-to-adopt-the-technology\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T06:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:12:19","slug":"one-reason-ceos-tie-layoffs-to-ai-it-motivates-remaining-employees-to-adopt-the-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/one-reason-ceos-tie-layoffs-to-ai-it-motivates-remaining-employees-to-adopt-the-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"One reason CEOs tie layoffs to AI? It motivates remaining employees to adopt the technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning<\/strong>. At a recent CEO dinner in New York, conversation turned to the topic of jobs. 2025 was an underwhelming year for U.S. job growth\u2014adding 584,000 jobs compared to 2 million in 2024\u2014and this year is likely to be more of the same. (Strip out health care and social assistance industries, and the U.S. lost jobs last year<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n

But the question being debated was how to talk<\/em> about possible job cuts in relation to AI. \u201cI\u2019d rather focus on AI than falling demand,\u201d one attendee said. \u201cAt least you look ahead of the curve instead of behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, U.S. employers explicitly blamed AI for 55,000 of the 1.17 million job cuts, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That\u2019s fewer than 5% of layoffs. AI is not yet the b\u00eate noire nor the magic elixir that people have made it out to be. (Forgive the mixed metaphors there; proof of a human at the helm.) In August, MIT released a study<\/a> that found 95% of generative AI pilots fail to generate meaningful return.<\/p>\n

And yet we\u2019re all hearing predictions about how AI is going to impact jobs, from gutting knowledge work to creating an army of AI-enhanced humans who will achieve more in 5 hours than most of us do in 5 days. If my dinner conversation is anything to go by, leaders are quite happy to stoke that debate. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

It motivates employees.<\/strong> The prospect of AI can spark both fear and fascination. In either case, talking about it externally and internally is a great way to get people motivated to learn about it. The productivity boost, especially in areas like coding<\/a>, can be significant. Tying it to job cuts is code for telling everyone to learn it.<\/p>\n

It can excite investors.<\/strong> UPS<\/a> stock jumped 8% the day that CEO Carol Tom\u00e9 announced 48,000 jobs had been cut in \u201cthe most significant strategic shift\u201d in company history. Research from the IMF, Deloitte<\/a> and others confirm that public companies are quicker to resort to layoffs than their private counterparts. \u201cI think it\u2019s too early to quantify,\u201d one dinner attendee told me, \u201cbut AI impacts how we think about hiring and firing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

It focuses the mind.<\/strong> With geopolitical conflicts, tariffs, climate risk and general concerns<\/a> about the U.S. economy, leaders have a lot of variables to juggle when deciding what to do next. Being on the cusp of a new era of innovation can simplify some of those choices. As one person put it: \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen in Venezuela but I do know I have to invest in AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at di*********<\/span>@*****<\/span>ne.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Top news<\/h3>\n

Powell under investigation<\/b><\/p>\n

The U.S. attorney\u2019s office in D.C. <\/span>has opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell<\/span><\/a> over renovations to the Fed\u2019s headquarters and whether he lied to Congress about the scope of the work. In a response, Powell acknowledged that the Fed had been served subpoenas, questioned the motive, and vowed to continue his job \u201cwithout political fear or favor.\u201d Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte <\/span>is reportedly behind the probe<\/span><\/a>; he\u2019s used the usually staid agency to investigate foes of President Donald Trump for mortgage fraud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Possible U.S. action against Iran<\/b><\/p>\n

Protests in Iran continued over the weekend, as did the government\u2019s crackdown on demonstrators, with <\/span>human rights groups reporting that hundreds have been killed in the unrest<\/span><\/a>. The Trump administration <\/span>is considering how to respond<\/span><\/a>; military, cyber, and economic measures are all on the table. President Trump says <\/span>Tehran has proposed talks<\/span><\/a> as the administration weighs its options.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump targets Exxon<\/b><\/p>\n

President Trump has threatened <\/span>to sideline Exxon Mobil on future Venezuela oil projects<\/span><\/a> for \u201cplaying too cute.\u201d In a Friday meeting between Trump and oil company executives, Exxon CEO Darren Woods called the Venezuelan market \u201cuninvestable\u201d in its current state, a comment that seemed to draw Trump\u2019s ire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CEO who laid off employees that rejected AI would do it again<\/b><\/p>\n

IgniteTech CEO Eric Vaughan laid off almost 80% of his employees two years ago because they wouldn\u2019t adopt AI. He <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> Fortune <\/span><\/i>it was \u201cextremely difficult\u201d but would do it again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tariff removal could boost jobs<\/b><\/p>\n

In a social media post over the weekend, Moody\u2019s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi <\/span>argued<\/span><\/a> that the removal of President Trump\u2019s Liberation Day tariffs would be \u201cthe fastest way to boost the job market.\u201d A decision from the Supreme Court on the legality of the tariffs is expected any day now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How a cap on credit card rates would play out<\/b><\/p>\n

President Trump indicated his support for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates late last week. Some experts <\/span>say<\/span><\/a> doing so would soften credit card rewards programs and make accessing credit hard for those with lower credit scores.<\/span><\/p>\n

The markets<\/h3>\n

S&P 500 futures<\/b> were down 0.7% this morning. The last session closed up 0.65%. <\/span>STOXX Europe 600<\/b> was down 0.23% in early trading. The U.K.\u2019s <\/span>FTSE 100<\/b> was down o.o9% in early trading. Japan markets were closed. China\u2019s <\/span>CSI 300<\/b> was up o.65%. The South Korea<\/span> KOSPI<\/b> was up 0.84% <\/span>to reach a record high<\/span><\/a>. India\u2019s <\/span>NIFTY 50<\/b> was up 0.42%. <\/span>Bitcoin<\/b> was at $90K.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around the watercooler<\/h3>\n

CEO coach to the Fortune 500: The most powerful way to tackle 2026 is assuming you\u2019ll live till 130<\/span><\/a> by Bill Hoogterp<\/span><\/p>\n

As U.S. debt soars past $38 trillion, the flood of corporate bonds is a growing threat to the Treasury supply<\/span><\/a> by Jason Ma<\/span><\/p>\n

AI adoption isn\u2019t an easy way to cut jobs\u2014or easy at all, Wharton professor says: \u2018The key thing \u2026 is just how much work is involved in doing it\u2019<\/span><\/a> by Nick Lichtenberg<\/span><\/p>\n

L\u2019Oreal exec tells Gen Z to be that person who grabs their manager\u2019s coffee\u2014instead of making you look junior, she says it can get you noticed<\/span><\/a> by Orianna Rosa Royle<\/span><\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s $82.7 billion rags-to-riches story: How the a DVD-by-mail company swallowed Hollywood<\/span><\/a> by Natalie Jarvey<\/span><\/p>\n

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams, Claire Zillman and Lee Clifford.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Diane Brady<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning. At a recent CEO dinner in New York, conversation turned to the topic of jobs. 2025 was an underwhelming year for U.S. job growth\u2014adding 584,000 jobs compared to 2 million in 2024\u2014and this year is likely to be more of the same. (Strip out health care and social assistance industries, and the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":884314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27291,461],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-layoffs","category-reason"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}