Layoffs: Is AI coming for white-collar jobs? Coders, analysts should worry

Are white-collar workers — think analysts, coders and even the odd opinion columnist — going the way of the medieval scribe? Finance and technology accounted for around 39,000 announced layoffs in the US last month, according to one survey, and now DocuSign Inc. and Snap Inc.’s 900 more signal an ongoing race to “rip the Band-Aid” and pivot to more cost-effective AI and automation. Developers are quoting Marx in online forums and wondering if they should re-train as electricians.

Shareholders don’t seem too bothered, as seen by Meta Platforms Inc.’s recent whopping $197 billion one-day market-cap gain, and neither do politicians eager to catch up in the tech race.