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\t\t\tIllustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins \/ Futurism. Source: Getty Images\n\t<\/p>\n
US employers announced over 108,000 layoffs across January, in the highest to start the year since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009. Many executives were quick to blame AI<\/a> for the layoffs, though the real reason might be simpler: companies just aren\u2019t optimistic about the direction the economy is heading.<\/p>\n According to new reporting by CNBC<\/a>, layoffs are up 118 percent from January, 2025, and a whopping 205 percent compared to December 2025. Throughout the month, US corporations tracked by analyst firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas only reported 5,306 new hires \u2014 another low which hadn\u2019t been seen since January of 2009.<\/p>\n \u201cGenerally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,\u201d Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at the analytics firm, told CNBC. \u201cIt means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The horrid numbers come as tech companies announce plans to dump more money into AI than ever before. Earlier this week, Google\u2019s parent company Alphabet announced it would double its AI capital expenditures from the $90 billion it spent in 2025 to as much as $185 billion, per the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n With so much hope for AI\u2019s future, it\u2019s no wonder many commentators and businesses titans have blamed the tech for the bone-dry job market. Yet as the market research firm Forrester explained in its January labor report<\/a>, the \u201cjob apocalypse\u201d is way overblown.<\/p>\n \u201cMany companies announcing AI-related layoffs do not have mature, vetted AI applications ready to fill those roles, highlighting a trend of \u2018AI washing\u2019 \u2014 attributing financially motivated cuts to future AI implementation,\u201d the report read.<\/p>\n In fact, some companies\u2019 financial woes might actually be the result of AI-washing in previous years. As Forrester puts it, \u201cover-automating roles due to the hype surrounding AI can lead to costly pullbacks, damaged reputations, and weakened employee experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n So while the job market might be struggling, resist the knee-jerk temptation to blame AI. We\u2019re not living in the cyberpunk dystopia yet \u2014 just the age-old grind<\/a> of an all-too-familiar capitalist economy.<\/p>\n