957 Workers Left Every Day: Job seekers, 2024 is going to be bitter. Will AI Take Your IT Job?

According to data from Layoffs. FYI, at least 10,963 people have been let go by 63 IT organizations this January alone.

In the meanwhile, another layoff tracking published by trueup.io revealed that 22,016 workers had been affected by 133 tech company layoffs so far in 2024. According to the tracker, 957 workers in the IT sector lost their employment per day in January up to this point.

Furthermore, according to Trueup’s statistics, Riot Games, TikTok, Amazon, Nexon, Xendit, Verint, and the search engine giant Google are among the companies affected by the most recent layoffs.

The most recent layoffs have increased as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty, particularly for the BFSI and CMT segments, which are still under pressure in the North American market.

957 Workers Dismissed Daily: 2024 Gets Off to a Sour Start, Will AI Affect Your IT Job?
According to Trueup statistics, there was an increase in layoffs in January 2024 as compared to the total number of job cutbacks in December and November of 2023 (16,945 and 16,875).

In addition, the layoffs.The largest tech layoffs since COVID-19 occurred in 2023 and were carried out by Meta, previously known as Facebook (totaling 22,000 job losses), Amazon (19,000 job cuts), Google (12,000 job cuts), and Microsoft (10,000 job cuts).

The use of services generated by artificial intelligence (AI) may potentially be a factor in employment losses. Leading AI company Nvidia was reported to have a 92% market share in the data center GPU sector as of December 2023, while Microsoft and OpenAI together had a 69% share in the market for fundamental models and platforms. Furthermore, with a 6% share, Accenture has become a market leader in the services sector.

The number of employees at Indian IT enterprises has also significantly decreased. The workforce of Azim Premji-backed Wipro decreased by 4,473 in Q3FY24, while TCS’s headcount decreased by 5,680, and Infosys’s headcount decreased by 6,101.

16,254 workers were let go by the three Indian IT behemoths between October and December of 2023.

Wipro and Infosys have respective headcounts of 240,234 and 322,663 as of December 31, 2023. The biggest recruiter in the Indian IT business, TCS, is supported by the Tata Group and employs 603,305 people overall.

Aside from this, the most recent research from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. said that corporations expected to slash 721,677 jobs in 2023—a 98% rise from the 363,824 job cutbacks that were reported in 2022. This year’s number is the biggest since 2,304,755 cuts were reported in 2020. It is the greatest amount since 2009, when 1,288,030 job layoffs were reported, with the exception of 2020.

Notably, the research states that, with 168,032 job layoffs declared last year, technology dominated all sectors in this regard, up 73% from the 97,171 cuts revealed in 2022.

There will be more layoffs!
The Challenger research also said that, in contrast to the 146,305 job losses reported in the third quarter of 2023, corporations declared intentions to slash 117,163 positions in the fourth quarter of 2023. This is a 20% decrease. Compared to the 154,329 cutbacks made in the last quarter of 2022, that represents a 24% decrease.

Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. and labor and workplace expert Andy Challenger said, “As 2023 draws to a close, hiring has been stable and layoffs have started to level down. However, labor expenses are substantial. The recruiting process for many job searchers will probably slow down as a result of employers’ continued extreme caution and cost-cutting measures in 2024. Cuts will also likely continue in Q1, although more slowly.”

According to Challenger, “The Tech sector will continue to be impacted by the onset of AI, mergers and acquisitions, and realigning of resources and talent.”

Adoption of AI is probably going to play a major role in the future expansion of the IT industry.

Kotak Institutional Equities said in a research note that there would be significant opportunities for system integration when generative AI is used by businesses. By 2030, ISG projects an annual increase in service opportunities of US$175 billion. In 2024, the majority of generative AI activity will be project-based and will expand steadily over time.”

Generative AI is often used in the following scenarios: (1) employee engagement using ChatGPT-like chatbots; (2) information extraction and summarization from documents; (3) production of synthetic data and content creation; and (4) automated coding and testing. Businesses are experimenting with AI that is both generative and predictive. According to the brokerage, they will increase in size over the next years.

“Businesses now anticipate higher levels of productivity from suppliers. In 2024, ISG anticipates significant increases in productivity for both ITO and BPO contracts. Finally, Kotak’s letter said, “Providers’ productivity may have an influence on pricing, particularly in sectors like contact centers and app modernization.

The impact of AI adoption on IT workers will be closely observed.