“Workforce reductions may create budget headroom, but they don’t generate returns”: Gartner warns that companies that rely on layoffs to free up space for AI may be trapped in the long term

• Companies with high ROI are laying off at the same rate as companies with low ROI
• The best returns come from investing in human skills and jobs.
• Net job creation could occur as early as 2020-2029

Four in five organizations that have tested or deployed autonomous AI agents have also reported workforce reductions, new Gartner research says; However, the research giant fails to link layoffs and business autonomy with significant improvements in return on investment.

According to Gartner, companies with higher ROI from autonomous AI reduced staff at about the same rate as companies with low or negative returns, implying that agent AI is not a key driver of job reductions, but rather other factors are at play.