Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon raised concerns about AI-related layoffs impacting workers, drawing the attention of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Solomon said he does not expect AI to cause widespread job losses, insisting that the economy will adapt to technological change as it always has, adding that technological disruption is normal.“There will be disruption, but I strongly believe that our economy is very agile, very flexible, and when you look at the technology that has permeated society over hundreds of years, we are adapting,” Solomon said in an interview with CNN.“We find new business. We find new jobs. I don’t believe that will be different this time either,” he added.
Solomon said that while companies’ adoption of AI could lead to fewer white-collar jobs, these positions would also emerge elsewhere in the economy, while noting that the adoption of AI could have a compounding impact on economic growth.Solomon did not call recent AI market activity a “bubble,” but cautioned that, like previous waves of technological change, not all companies will be successful in this technology transition.“This technology is exciting and should generate a lot of enthusiasm, but there will also be challenges along the way,” Solomon said.
AI job cuts by Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants
Several major tech companies are cutting staff as they implement AI systems. Amazon eliminated 14,000 positions last week. CEO Andy Jassy said on the company’s quarterly earnings call that the cuts “are not actually based on AI, at least at this point.” But Jassy said earlier this year that AI efficiencies would mean Amazon would need fewer employees in the future.Meta has cut 600 jobs in its AI department. Salesforce eliminated thousands of customer service jobs and replaced them with AI agents. Microsoft cut 9,000 jobs earlier this year. CEO Satya Nadella said the company will be hiring again, but with “much more impact than our pre-AI workforce.”A Goldman Sachs survey of investment bankers last week found that 11% of clients are actively cutting jobs because of AI. The survey targeted customers across real estate, technology, and financial sectors. The same study revealed increased adoption of AI in core business operations, Fortune’s report noted.
