The scale of disruption ahead is significant. A Forrester forecast published in January predicts AI and automation will eliminate 6.1% of US jobs by 2030, equivalent to 10.4 million positions. To put that in context, the US lost 8.7 million jobs during the Great Recession. Unlike recession-driven losses, Forrester notes, AI-driven displacement is structural and permanent. Notably, genAI now accounts for 50% of projected US job losses to automation, up from 29% in Forrester’s earlier forecast, as agentic AI solutions compound the effect.
But Forrester adds a pointed caveat. Nine out of ten times, the firm said, when a CEO announces workforce reductions citing AI, the company does not yet have a mature, vetted AI application ready to fill those roles.
Restructuring from strength, not distress
The context of Block’s cuts is what makes them significant, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research. “This is not about trimming fat. It is about redefining muscle,” he said. “When a financially healthy company decides to remove nearly half its workforce and openly attributes that to AI capability, it is not reacting. It is repositioning.”
