NEW YORK (Realist English). 2026 has definitively cemented artificial intelligence as the primary disruptor of the labor market. While tech giants pour trillions into automation, hundreds of thousands of workers worldwide are losing their jobs. The picture painted by fresh reports and forecasts resembles a new industrial revolution, where winners and losers are separated by a chasm, and society is approaching a tipping point of social unrest.
40% of US Layoffs Linked to AI
According to a report by consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, US companies announced more than 97,000 job cuts in May 2026. Notably, roughly 40% of these layoffs were directly attributed to the adoption of artificial intelligence and automation. AI has been the primary reason cited by employers for three consecutive months.
In the first quarter of 2026, the technology sector shed about 81,700 jobs – the highest figure in two years. For the whole of 2026, according to Tech Layoff Tracker and TrueUp, losses among tech workers have already exceeded 150,000.
Five categories are most at risk: customer support (92% of cuts), quality control and content moderation (84%), middle management (78%), recruiting and HR operations (72%), and junior engineering positions (68%).
Billionaire Optimism vs. Millions’ Fear
Against this alarming backdrop, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos struck an optimistic note. At the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 17, he said: “I know many people, including very smart ones, who fear that AI will make people unnecessary. I strongly disagree with that view. In fact, I believe AI will create a labor shortage.”
Bezos argued that productivity would rise so much that companies could develop products faster and enter new areas, increasing demand for human resources. However, his words ring hollow: Amazon itself has cut about 30,000 corporate positions since the end of last year, in part due to efficiency gains from AI.
A harsher assessment came from Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, author of the bestseller Sapiens. In an interview with CGTN, he warned that AI poses the greatest threat to “middle” jobs: “For many middle‑tier positions, mostly high‑paying routine work, the future is not too bright. Private companies may consider replacing such employees with machines that do not require a salary at all.”
The Labor Market Splits in Two
PwC’s “AI Jobs Barometer 2026” study, covering more than a billion job postings across six continents, identified the emergence of a “two‑speed” labor market.
“Professionalised” roles, where AI automates routine tasks and human judgment and experience become even more valuable (e.g., radiologists, recruiters), are growing twice as fast and show 42% higher wage growth than “democratised” roles, where AI simplifies work for non‑specialists (e.g., IT managers, medical secretaries).
Job postings requiring AI skills grew by 69% – nearly eight times faster than the overall labor market – and the wage premium for such skills reached 62% (up from 57% the previous year). In some sectors, this premium reaches 118%.
At the same time, companies actively adopting AI show employee growth of 52% (vs. 36% for laggards) and productivity growth of 34% (vs. 24%). The top 20% of the most “AI‑oriented” companies saw productivity growth of 163% relative to 2018.
‘Digital Workforce’: A New Class Without Rights
The Box report “State of AI in the Enterprise 2026” shows that 34% of companies are implementing a “digital workforce strategy” – AI agents are officially included in headcount with defined roles and management systems, owning parts of workflows previously belonging to humans. Only oversight and exception handling remain for people.
At the same time, new occupations are emerging: operators of AI agents in IT (hired by 44% of companies), AI security and compliance specialists (37%), business‑function agent operators (31%) and workflow automation specialists (30%).
Legal Vacuum and Court Precedents
In many countries, the legal system is lagging behind technology. In China, courts are already hearing cases of “AI replacement.” In April 2026, a court in Hangzhou ruled that the dismissal of an IT specialist, whom the company had demoted from a managerial to a junior position with a 40% salary cut, citing that AI had “replaced” his functions, was illegal.
Judges warn: companies must first offer internal transfers, retraining and negotiations, rather than using AI as a “trump card” for layoffs. In Beijing, an arbitration court ruled that termination due to “AI replacement” is illegal, as it constitutes “shifting the risks of technological evolution onto workers.”
Experts point to legal uncertainty: articles on “major technological changes” and “changes in business methods” were not written with AI in mind.
Global Imbalance: Developing Countries Under Threat
A joint study by the ILO and the World Bank warns that in developing countries, AI could destroy jobs faster than it creates them. The digital divide means that workers whose jobs are vulnerable to automation already have internet access – even in low‑income countries. Job loss could happen “relatively quickly.” This concerns clerical and administrative positions, which have historically been a path to decent work, especially for women and youth. At the same time, many workers in occupations with productivity‑growth potential lack reliable internet access.
Social Divide: ‘Occupy Wall Street 2.0’?
Amid mass layoffs, the AI sector is experiencing an unprecedented wealth boom. SpaceX is valued at $2.1 trillion after its IPO, Cerebras Systems rose 68% on its first day of trading, and Elon Musk became the world’s first “trillionaire.”
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, half of Americans fear that AI could leave them or someone in their family without a job. 76% of US citizens cite the cost of living as their top concern (vs. 58% a year ago). In January 2026, 65% of voters believed that “the middle class is already out of reach.”
As the analytical publication CNYES notes, “the global technology industry finds itself in an unprecedented rift: record corporate profits are accompanied by mass layoffs, and AI is officially cited as the cause. At the same time, a handful of AI winners are amassing enormous wealth at an unprecedented speed. This extreme dichotomy – layoffs on one side, enrichment on the other – is pushing the tech sector to the epicenter of social tension.”
