"We Need People to Work Alongside AI"... U.S. Companies Are Hiring Again

[Financial News] Major U.S. companies that had continued cutting jobs amid the AI boom are now shifting back toward expanding their workforce.
On the 26th local time, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that companies had been extremely cautious about new hiring because of economic uncertainty and expectations that AI would replace workers. But they now appear to have concluded that they need to hire more people to meet growth targets and overcome AI's technical limitations.
The paper said that major U.S. companies, including Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, and rail giant CSX, have recently told investors they plan to increase headcount in order to meet growth goals and make greater use of new technologies.
Over the past 18 months, major U.S. companies had been reducing office staff on the assumption that leaner workforces would enable faster growth. But the mood has changed sharply. As the high costs and clear limitations of AI adoption have become more apparent, some executives are now saying that expanding headcount is once again urgent.
Christine Martin Anderson, chief operating officer (COO) of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, recently told investors, "The truth is, we need to speed up hiring a little more. We are slightly behind our current targets, and we are moving aggressively to address that."
The company laid off thousands of workers last year amid reduced government contracts, but has now shifted back to hiring as demand for services, especially in national security, has picked up again. Data from the Federal government of the United States shows that recent weekly initial jobless claims hit their lowest level since 1969, suggesting that the broader wave of layoffs in the U.S. is also gradually easing.
At the center of this shift is a more realistic reassessment by companies of what AI can actually do.
Sarah Franklin, chief executive officer (CEO) of workforce management platform Lattice, explained, "Many companies had stopped hiring entry-level employees, believing AI agents could fill the gaps in work. But they later realized that having 'people' working alongside AI is essential."
Franklin said hiring demand, especially for entry-level positions, is rising sharply again among the company's thousands of clients.
She added that even with coding AI agents in place, engineers are still needed to control them, and sales staff who can communicate directly with customers remain essential.
Paul Osterman, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and author of "Disposable Workers," said, "It is hard to predict whether companies will need more workers or fewer. Nobody really knows."
He added, however, that companies will likely continue to lay off workers when they are no longer needed or shift them to contract positions.
Osterman said, "AI creates enormous uncertainty for employers and makes them unsure about what they need and what they do not need." He added that claims that AI will replace humans and save shareholders money will continue to circulate.

[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter