IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said recent tech layoffs link directly to the hiring surges between 2020 and 2023. He explained this in an interview with The Verge in the United States. Krishna added that AI will continue to influence roles over time, but the current cuts come mainly from earlier expansion rather than automation.
What changed in AI job conversations
During the pandemic, staffing expanded at an unusually fast pace. Companies raised their headcounts by 30, 40, 50, and sometimes even 100 percent. Krishna described this period as an overconsumption of talent. In his view, the ongoing adjustment reflects a natural correction. Business cycles, he said, behave like an underdamped system: demand pushes them above the optimal point, momentum carries them below it, and only then do they stabilise.
IBM has already announced that around 1 percent of its workforce, about 2,700 employees, will leave by the end of 2025.
Impact of AI on workers and companies
AI-led job changes will happen, but Krishna does not expect extreme disruption. He believes displacement may reach up to 10 percent over the next few years, concentrated in specific functions rather than spread across the entire workforce. Larger productivity gains, he argued, could even spark hiring in new roles. Companies have already shifted basic tasks to AI tools, yet Krishna said this trend should not discourage early-career recruitment.
How companies are using AI in hiring and skills
Some employers are using AI mainly to cut entry-level positions, and Krishna called this approach shortsighted. He argued that a new recruit supported by AI can perform closer to the level of a seasoned professional. Without such talent entering the pipeline, he warned, companies risk losing the innovators who build products and persuade clients to adopt new technologies.
IBM plans to expand its intake of fresh graduates. Krishna told CNN that while many organisations are freezing hiring or preparing for layoffs, IBM intends to do the opposite. The company expects to recruit more college graduates in the next 12 months than in recent years.
According to Krishna, tech job reductions will continue until companies settle into stable post-pandemic demand. AI will reshape roles gradually as responsibilities shift and new training requirements emerge.
