A mechanical hand is on display at Robot Mall, the world’s first Embodied Intelligent Robot 4S store, on August 13, 2025 in Beijing, China.
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As investors worry about the longevity of the AI boom in financial markets, companies are rapidly changing the idea that artificial intelligence can do everything by rehiring employees and powering their businesses.
car manufacturer ford is one of the companies that has recently reversed course. The company is reportedly rehiring hundreds of experienced human engineers to tackle quality issues that automated systems weren’t able to address. “Artificial intelligence is a great tool, but it’s only as good as the information you use to train it,” Charles Poon, Ford’s vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told the media.
Other companies that have pulled back on hiring plans to put more emphasis on human capital include: Commonwealth Bank of Australia and software giant IBM.
Last year, CBA laid off more than 40 customer service staff and replaced them with AI voice bots. However, the AI system was unable to cope and the number of calls increased, prompting CBA to reverse the layoffs. “Getting the CBA to reverse these cuts is a major victory,” the Australian Financial Sector Union said in a statement.
As reported by the ABC in August last year, CBA admitted it had “failed to properly take into account all relevant business considerations” when announcing the job cuts and admitted it “should have carried out a more thorough assessment of the required roles”.
Similarly, IBM replaced its human resources function with AI, handling about 94% of routine requests, but not the remaining 6% involving ethical dilemmas. IBM then announced plans to triple entry-level hiring across all U.S. business units in 2026.
“If we don’t continue to invest in entry-level hiring, what will happen in three to five years?” Nickle Lamoreaux, IBM’s chief human resources officer, said at the Charter AI Summit in New York. “There are no pipelines. The wells just dry up,” Lamoreaux added.
These examples reflect analysts’ views that making employees redundant while expanding the use of AI does not necessarily provide the best path to business growth.
According to a report from Intuition Labs, “spending money on ‘replacement technology’ without investing in training and upskilling has left teams unprepared to take advantage of AI.” “In particular, some automation-driven companies have subsequently ‘regreted’ many layoffs because they have cut the very staff needed to oversee AI,” he added.
According to a report from Orgvue, 39% of business leaders have made employees redundant due to the implementation of AI. However, 55% of them admitted that bad decisions were made regarding job cuts.
“When AI output is inconsistent, inaccurate, or difficult to apply, companies often need to reintroduce human oversight,” said Jessica Chan, senior vice president of APAC at the HR solutions provider. ADP. “This can lead to duplication of effort, slower decision-making, and reduced productivity gains,” Zhang added.
Meanwhile, 32% of U.S. recruiters say they eliminated a role and then rehired in the same or similar role primarily because of AI. robert half Sent to CNBC.
“AI is changing the workplace, but it’s becoming clear that organizations are seeing more value in building human-AI collaborations rather than replacing human jobs completely,” the Capitol Institute of Technology noted.
