--- title: AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay description: Forrester predicts that half of AI-attributed layoffs will be reversed, with 55% of employers regretting workforce cuts made in anticipation of AI automation.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay | daily.dev og:description: Forrester predicts that half of AI-attributed layoffs will be reversed, with 55% of employers regretting workforce cuts made in anticipation of AI automation.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/uFSkFWNhp.png og:image:alt: AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay **[The Register](https://daily.dev/sources/theregister)** · 3 min read · 35 upvotes · 8 comments ## Summary Forrester predicts that half of AI-attributed layoffs will be reversed, with 55% of employers regretting workforce cuts made in anticipation of AI automation. Many companies are laying off workers based on future AI promises rather than actual automation capabilities, with research showing AI agents achieving only 58% success rates on single-step tasks. Organizations like Klarna and Duolingo have already walked back aggressive AI strategies, while companies like Salesforce and Amazon continue cutting thousands of jobs citing AI efficiency gains. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@ricktonoli** · 4 upvotes > I wonder what kind of message that sends to the ones that stay behind, what kind of under-current that creates in the culture, whether people start thinking "Hell, I'm not going to wait to be fired, I better get the hell outta dodge", you know, those smart unicorns with institutionalised knowledge that you don't realize your organization depends on. > > All I can say is this should be a fun experiment... **@panov** · 3 upvotes > AI isn’t magic. It’s just a tool. > It helps you get more done in the same time frame… but it’s use in the right way is not simple. > Which means companies still need good devs to make it work. > So if not for higher pay... the minimum should be the same salary as before. **@pwitham** · 3 upvotes > So now companies will use this AI layoff and rehire for less as a budgeting tactic I bet. It would have to be a truly amazing company for me to even consider returning after getting laid off. > > Being laid off and going back says you are top of the list next time and how a company values you and other employees. **@a\_meb\_a** · 1 upvotes > AI bubble it's just starting... make some pop corn **@dimi3ryi** · 0 upvotes > Duolingo walked back? LMFAO, dude, did you see their revenue? It grew by almost 41% the last time I checked. > Let's be real - a lot of things CAN and WILL be automated. You can try to sugarcoat it, but that's the truth. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Employers are quietly rehiring the people AI replaced, and paying them less to come back](https://daily.dev/posts/employers-are-quietly-rehiring-the-people-ai-replaced-and-paying-them-less-to-come-back-nrpbglhmv) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#automation](https://daily.dev/tags/automation), [#enterprise](https://daily.dev/tags/enterprise) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp"},"datePublished":"2025-10-29T13:37:13.640Z","dateModified":"2026-03-15T03:29:40.342Z","description":"Forrester predicts that half of AI-attributed layoffs will be reversed, with 55% of employers regretting workforce cuts made in anticipation of AI automation....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5b925784cb1b0ee52a9de0c4ba52360e?_a=AQAEulh","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5b925784cb1b0ee52a9de0c4ba52360e?_a=AQAEulh","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Register","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Register","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/66aa2113fdad463992ffcbf0e8963fda","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/theregister"},"commentCount":8,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":35},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":8}],"keywords":"ai,ai-agents,automation,enterprise","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Register","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/theregister"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI layoffs to backfire: half quietly rehired at lower pay"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-layoffs-to-backfire-half-quietly-rehired-at-lower-pay-ufskfwnhp","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"I wonder what kind of message that sends to the ones that stay behind, what kind of under-current that creates in the culture, whether people start thinking “Hell, I’m not going to wait to be fired, I better get the hell outta dodge”, you know, those smart unicorns with institutionalised knowledge that you don’t realize your organization depends on.\nAll I can say is this should be a fun experiment…","datePublished":"2025-11-03T06:08:12.455Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uFSkFWNhp#c-KfwNqR7nw","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Rick Tonoli","url":"https://daily.dev/ricktonoli","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--1mKwVOZD--/f_auto/v1745813607/avatars/avatar_54gVqSdbL9DajhGSKNFpY"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"AI isn’t magic. It’s just a tool.\nIt helps you get more done in the same time frame… but it’s use in the right way is not simple.\nWhich means companies still need good devs to make it work.\nSo if not for higher pay… the minimum should be the same salary as before.","datePublished":"2025-11-10T13:12:45.388Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uFSkFWNhp#c-cBNCYdsmJ","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Aleksandar Panov","url":"https://daily.dev/panov","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIz9O9pEGfsj_FVJB6nSAn55TWdTZ-l6BSNGQKQvZp2_kfh-_M=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"So now companies will use this AI layoff and rehire for less as a budgeting tactic I bet. It would have to be a truly amazing company for me to even consider returning after getting laid off.\nBeing laid off and going back says you are top of the list next time and how a company values you and other employees.","datePublished":"2025-11-06T16:02:37.506Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uFSkFWNhp#c-ku1b7D2jH","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Peter Witham","url":"https://daily.dev/pwitham","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--PV27VbEH--/f_auto/v1767215591/avatars/avatar_zSPHgbmgf?_a=BAMAK+ZW0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"AI bubble it’s just starting… make some pop corn","datePublished":"2025-11-11T11:20:20.513Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uFSkFWNhp#c-loNnE22GD","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Phillippe Michel Weir","url":"https://daily.dev/a_meb_a","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BwH-uTMq--/f_auto/v1740136991/avatars/avatar_N403VFK9lAHNRwlSAhl1h"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Duolingo walked back? LMFAO, dude, did you see their revenue? It grew by almost 41% the last time I checked.\nLet’s be real - a lot of things CAN and WILL be automated. You can try to sugarcoat it, but that’s the truth.","datePublished":"2025-11-11T23:42:42.663Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uFSkFWNhp#c-peV6o3hLp","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dmitryi Feschenko","url":"https://daily.dev/dimi3ryi","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/AOh14Gg_EOsM8ktwtfeM62CjToFvO33Mn2rJJ02rTCbK=s100"}}]} ```