The threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to white-collar jobs is intensifying, with a growing number of global CEOs warning employees to adapt or risk being left behind.
Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley is the latest to raise the alarm, saying, “AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind.” Farley predicts that 50% of white-collar jobs in America could be replaced by AI in the future.
Marianne Lake, head of JPMorgan Chase’s consumer and community banking division, said in May that the bank expects to cut operations headcount by 10% due to AI. Around the same time, Dario Amodei, CEO of AI startup Anthropic, warned that half of all entry-level jobs could disappear within one to five years, potentially pushing US unemployment to 10–20%.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also sounded a warning in June, calling AI a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” he said in a memo.
The concern is not limited to the West. In February, Piyush Gupta, former CEO of DBS Bank, said that about 4,000 jobs may be lost in the next three to four years due to AI. In March, InMobi founder and CEO Naveen Tewari urged software engineers to adapt quickly: “Upgrade yourself, don’t ask me to upgrade you. Because this is survival. The world underneath you is shifting.”
Job losses attributed to AI have already surged in 2025. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Amazon have made cuts tied to AI-driven restructuring. Microsoft has laid off 15,000 employees in two major rounds this year. Business Insider slashed about 21% of its workforce in May. Procter & Gamble plans to eliminate around 7,000 white-collar jobs—15% of its non-manufacturing staff—over two years. InMobi is aiming for 80% automation in software coding by year-end, signaling more job losses ahead.
According to venture capital firm SignalFire, entry-level hiring in major tech firms has dropped over 50% since 2019. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang captured the emerging reality: “You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.”
The layoffs are not solely the result of AI efficiencies. Many companies are actively cutting costs and reallocating capital toward AI development. The disruption is here—and it’s accelerating.
Source – https://www.cnbctv18.com/education/ai-impact-on-white-collar-jobs-unemployment-layoffs-19633785.htm