OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart • Hacker News Board

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#21

Post by api » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:01 PM UTC

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

The doomer stuff about AI is another kind of hype. We are at the top of the bubble hype cycle.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#22

Post by api » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:02 PM UTC

mattacular wrote: post #17

dfxm12 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salesforce CEO confirms 4,000 layoffs ‘because I need less heads’ with AI - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/02/salesforce-ceo-confirms-4000...

Does anybody really believe that SalesForce of all companies has successfully replaced 4000 real and necessary jobs with AI? Or is that more likely just an excuse to justify more layoffs in the tech industry for the usual reasons.

Lots of companies using AI or RTO as excuses to just downsize since layoffs for normal reasons don’t look as good.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#23

Post by adabyron » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:05 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #11

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

Salesforce CEO confirms 4,000 layoffs ‘because I need less heads’ with AI - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/02/salesforce-ceo-confirms-4000...

Those 4,000 were "customer support" positions & Salesforce just happens to also sell an AI product for customer support. They also underperformed expectations in their last earnings.

Companies like IBM & Klarna have made news for reducing positions like these & then re-hiring them.

AI, like most tech, will increase productivity & reduce headcount but it's not there yet. Remember, the days are long & the years are short.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#24

Post by mikelitoris » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:06 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #11

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

Salesforce CEO confirms 4,000 layoffs ‘because I need less heads’ with AI - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/02/salesforce-ceo-confirms-4000...

I am sure he has had plenty of "heads" as a bigwig CEO. Also, it's "fewer" heads not "less".

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#25

Post by malfist » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:07 PM UTC

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

Amazon won't hire junior engineers because of AI unless it's direct from a college pipeline, and even those jobs have shrunk significantly in number. Even opening an L4 (junior) role requires VP approval these days.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#26

Post by keiferski » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:10 PM UTC

IIRC this is a background premise in William Gibson’s The Peripheral. Most jobs are either for a tech company, or at a Walmart-esque store that has eaten all other retail.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#27

Post by adabyron » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:10 PM UTC

api wrote: post #22

mattacular wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anybody really believe that SalesForce of all companies has successfully replaced 4000 real and necessary jobs with AI? Or is that more likely just an excuse to justify more layoffs in the tech industry for the usual reasons.

Lots of companies using AI or RTO as excuses to just downsize since layoffs for normal reasons don’t look as good.

I really wish journalists & public speaking investors would call this out more.

Though like non-GAAP earnings & adjusted EBITDA, very few care. Those that do are often old, technical, conservative & silent type of investors instead of podcasters or CNBC guests. RIP Charlie M.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#28

Post by ofjcihen » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:10 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #11

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

Salesforce CEO confirms 4,000 layoffs ‘because I need less heads’ with AI - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/02/salesforce-ceo-confirms-4000...

Salesforces CEO needs to consider replacing them with security product architects so they can figure out a way to send me logs that aren’t crap

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#29

Post by nilkn » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:11 PM UTC

x187463 wrote: post #7

How many jobs have they actually 'eaten'? For now, we mostly have AI labs and those in proximity claiming some number of jobs will be obsolete, but the actual job loss has yet to manifest.

It's rarely (maybe never) a direct one-to-one elimination of jobs. Most attempts to replace a single complete human job with an AI agent are not successful (and large companies, generally, aren't even attempting that). Rather, the phenomenon is more like a diffuse productivity gain across a large team or organization that results in a smaller headcount need over time as its final net effect. In practice, this materializes as backfills not approved as natural attrition occurs, hiring pipelines thinned out with existing team member workloads increased, management layers pruned, teams merged (then streamlined), etc.

Re: OpenAI eats jobs, then offers to help you find a new one at Walmart

#30

Post by eastbound » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

api wrote: post #22

mattacular wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anybody really believe that SalesForce of all companies has successfully replaced 4000 real and necessary jobs with AI? Or is that more likely just an excuse to justify more layoffs in the tech industry for the usual reasons.

Lots of companies using AI or RTO as excuses to just downsize since layoffs for normal reasons don’t look as good.

Very probable those CEOs use AI to write the speech, asking “What’s the least antagonizing way of explaining the layoffs?”.