Nearly 4K people lost their jobs in US due to AI in May: Report

Artificial intelligence (AI) cost nearly 4,000 people their jobs in May in the US, a new report has shown.

According to the US-based consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas monthly report, employers in the US cited AI as the reason for 3,900 of the layoffs, roughly 4.9 per cent of May's job cuts.

In May, US-based employers announced 80,089 cuts, a 20 per cent increase from the 66,995 cuts announced one month prior, plus, it is 287 per cent higher than the 20,712 cuts announced in the same month in 2022.

"Consumer confidence is down to a six-month low and job openings are flattening. Companies appear to be putting the brakes on hiring in anticipation of a slowdown," said Andrew Challenger, a labour expert and Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Moreover, the report said that companies have announced plans to cut 4,17,500 jobs so far this year, a 315 per cent increase from the 1,00,694 cuts announced in the same period last year.

It is the highest January-May total since 2020 when 1,414,828 cuts were recorded.

The technology sector announced the most cuts in May with 22,887, for a total of 136,831 this year, up 2,939 per cent from the 4,503 cuts announced in the same period last year.

Retailers announced the second-most cuts in May with 9,053.

Retail has announced 45,168 cuts so far this year, up 942 per cent from the 4,335 announced through May 2022, the report said.

The Automotive sector announced 8,308 job cuts last month for a total of 18,017 this year, a 235 per cent increase from the 5,380 cuts announced in the same period last year.

Financial firms have announced 36,937 cuts through May, up 320 per cent from the 8,788 cuts through the same period in 2022.