AI-POCALYPSE New research suggests AI deployment is creating significant workforce redundancies across major organizations.
A BearingPoint survey of 1,000 plus global execs found half report 10 to 19 percent workforce overcapacity due to “early-stage automation and limited role redesign” as AI is rolled out in their businesses.
“Roles centered on routine analysis, process execution, transactional support, and repetitive knowledge work – including back-office operations, customer service, and entry-level financial or HR support – are becoming increasingly redundant,” said the report. “Half of C-level executives indicate 10 to 20 percent overcapacity induced by AI, with IT, administration, and customer support already high on their agenda.”
According to the study, AI is expected to drive a sharp increase in workforce overcapacity by 2028 as productivity gains accelerate, “leading to a sustained reduction in demand for multiple profiles.”
Within three years, all companies forecast at least 10 percent overcapacity, and 45 percent expect to manage 30-50 percent excess capacity, the report said.
Alfred Obereder, partner at BearingPoint, said organizations are being forced to rethink not just who does the work, but how work itself is designed and delivered. “Rather than layering AI onto outdated functions, they are beginning to deconstruct traditional role definitions and rebuild them around human-agent collaboration,” he said.
Organizations must balance overcapacity in “legacy roles” while finding the skills in AI-critical domains. “Workforce planning, talent development, and organizational design will need to be rethought from the ground up.”
The Register has asked BearingPoint whether this might mean job losses in the short term.
Last week, UK-based global law firm Clifford Chance said it was reducing the number of business services staff at its London office by 10 percent as it increases use of AI in back-office functions.
Consultancy PwC also said AI may lead to fewer workers being hired. In the tech industry, Amazon has told its staff that some of them will be replaced by bots, although this would not mean total headcount reduction in the short term.
However, a Yale study from October claims that there’s little evidence of jobs being lost due to AI so far, at least in the US. Researchers said they had looked at the labor market since ChatGPT’s release and did not see “discernible disruption.”
Source – https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/27/ai_employee_overcapacity_report/