New Delhi: About two-thirds of artificial intelligence and machine learning professionals in India expect layoffs or significant headcount cuts in the next three to six months, according to a new survey.
The survey, released by workplace community platform Blind Friday, was conducted among 1,552 India-based professionals in July. It has found that 66 per cent of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) workers believe their teams are likely to see layoffs or staffing cuts. The figure was close to sales and marketing (68 per cent) and product and design (65 per cent), two other functions where employees reported high expectations of job cuts.
The findings reflect employees’ expectations rather than confirmed layoff plans and challenge the perception that AI and ML roles are among the safest as companies expand their use of artificial intelligence.
Engineering and data and analytics employees reported a lower level of concern. Overall, 58 per cent of engineering respondents and 51 per cent of data and analytics respondents anticipated layoffs or headcount reductions in their teams. Only 24 per cent of engineers said a job cut was “very likely”, the lowest share among all functions surveyed.
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From Salesforce to Oracle
The survey also found differences across companies. Employees at Salesforce (81 per cent) and Oracle (80 per cent) were the most likely to expect layoffs or headcount cuts, followed by Uber (77 per cent) and PayPal (75 per cent). At the other end, Zoho (9 per cent) reported the lowest perceived risk, while Freshworks (44 per cent) also ranked among companies where employees expected fewer job cuts.
According to Blind, workers who expected layoffs pointed to hiring trends and budget decisions rather than formal announcements. Among respondents who believed their teams were at risk, 27 per cent cited hiring freezes as the strongest signal, while 24 per cent pointed to budget or headcount reductions. Only 9 per cent said formal layoff announcements were the main reason for their assessment.
The survey included professionals in engineering, AI/ML, product and design, data and analytics, sales and marketing, operations and support, as well as other functions, Blind said.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)