Another day, another round of layoffs—Starbucks, Microsoft, Wayfair, and even parts of Meta. And the common thread? “Strategic restructuring to align with AI initiatives.”

Translation: we’re replacing folks with machines.

Now, I’m not anti-AI. I’ve automated enough cron jobs and scripts to know the power of good tooling. But let’s not pretend this shift is clean or humane. We’re hollowing out the middle—the project managers, the junior coders, the content folks—and expecting what’s left to carry more weight for the same pay.

If you’re in IT leadership, now’s the time to ask: are you automating tasks, or devaluing people? There’s a difference. One builds efficiency. The other burns trust.

To learn how to do this right, dig into IBM’s latest workforce transformation whitepaper. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.