AI-exposed firms cut 4% of jobs

Morgan Stanley says companies in five sectors most exposed to artificial intelligence cut net headcount by 4% over the 12 months through November 2025. (morganstanley.com) The bank’s February 5, 2026 research note said the sharpest losses were in automobiles and components, where net jobs fell 10%. (morganstanley.com) (businesstimes.com.sg) Morgan Stanley surveyed 935 corporate executives in the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia across consumer staples retail and distribution, real estate, transportation, healthcare equipment and services, and autos. (morganstanley.com) Those executives said AI adoption helped drive an 11.5% average productivity gain. They also said 11% of jobs were eliminated and another 12% were not backfilled, while 18% of roles were added. (morganstanley.com) Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Byrd said the size of the net job loss was “surprised” relative to earlier expectations that AI would support employment growth. The bank said the cuts were more pronounced at larger companies and hit entry-level workers most. (morganstanley.com) A separate April 27, 2026 report cited by India Today said white-collar employment across S&P 500 companies fell by 400,000 in 2025 to 28.1 million. That was the first annual decline since 2016. (indiatoday.in) India Today said the drop followed eight straight years of growth in which S&P 500 companies added more than 3 million jobs. It named UPS, Oracle, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Intel and Microsoft among companies that had cut thousands of roles in recent rounds of layoffs. (indiatoday.in) Quartz reported on April 21 that a quarter of S&P 500 companies mentioned at least one quantifiable AI impact in the first three months of 2026, up from 13% a year earlier. Challenger, Gray & Christmas data cited there showed AI accounted for 15,341 planned layoffs in March alone. (qz.com) The two datasets are not measuring the same thing. Morgan Stanley is a survey of executives in selected AI-exposed sectors, while the S&P 500 figure tracks total white-collar employment at large listed companies. (morganstanley.com) (indiatoday.in) Taken together, they point in the same direction: companies are reporting higher output from AI while slowing hiring, leaving more routine office work and entry-level roles under pressure. (morganstanley.com) (qz.com)