The AI jobs debate just got messier | TechCrunch
AI-related job loss fears grow each time another company announces a round of layoffs. Through May of 2026, companies announced that close to 90,000 job cuts were tied to AI, and, by some accounts, up to 15% of U.S. jobs are projected to be eliminated by AI over the next five years. Promises from the tech industry that AI will also create new jobs does little to ease fears, especially for the generation wondering if anyone will be hiring when they graduate.
A recent report from Ramp and Revelio Labs, which track enterprise AI spend and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, respectively, complicates that gloomy narrative.
The report found that companies spending heavily on AI are growing headcount faster, even in the entry-level roles that many fear are doomed. According to the report, “high-intensity adopters” — firms that spend on average $30 per employee per month on AI in the first three months — saw headcount increase 10.2%.
Headcount also rose across functions, including engineering, sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing, and scientist roles. The strongest job growth among high-intensity adopters was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media, and tech-adjacent firms.
Despite these positive signals, the data isn’t as rosy as it seems. It skews heavily towards tech-forward, knowledge-work firms — ones that might have VC-backing and are growing fast anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to the hiring or just showing up at companies that are expanding anyway.
“This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,” the paper’s authors admit, “but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”
It also counters claims that AI is killing all junior jobs. Recent research from Goldman Sachs found that AI has already erased about 16,000 net jobs per month over the past year, with Gen Z and entry level workers taking the brunt of the burden. But in tech-forward firms, the report finds that entry-level headcount actually rose by 12%.
So what can we take away from this? Perhaps that AI isn’t always a tool for labor substitution, but that it can be a tool for firm-expansion instead.
“For software and technology firms, AI can make core output cheaper or faster to produce: writing code, debugging, building internal tools, producing technical documentation, and supporting product development,” the report reads. “Lower production costs in these workflows can raise the return to expanding the whole firm, not just the engineering team.”
But companies that buy subscriptions and run pilots, yet did not go on to make sustained investments, don’t tend to see any gains in headcount, per the report.
That sets up the potential for a widening gap between firms that have the resources — like capital, technical staff, founder networks, and management bandwidth — to turn AI adoption into actual business gains and those that are stuck experimenting with subscriptions. In other words, this report suggests that firms that already have the resources are the ones who will see the largest gains.
The paper’s authors speculate such a divide may continue to grow, saying: “Firms without those channels may fall behind.”
AI-related job loss fears grow each time another company announces a round of layoffs. Through May of 2026, companies announced that close to 90,000 job cuts were tied to AI, and, by some accounts, up to 15% of U.S. jobs are projected to be eliminated by AI over the next five years. Promises from the tech industry that AI will also create new jobs does little to ease fears, especially for the generation wondering if anyone will be hiring when they graduate.
A recent report from Ramp and Revelio Labs, which track enterprise AI spend and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, respectively, complicates that gloomy narrative.
The report found that companies spending heavily on AI are growing headcount faster, even in the entry-level roles that many fear are doomed. According to the report, “high-intensity adopters” — firms that spend on average $30 per employee per month on AI in the first three months — saw headcount increase 10.2%.
Headcount also rose across functions, including engineering, sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing, and scientist roles. The strongest job growth among high-intensity adopters was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media, and tech-adjacent firms.
Despite these positive signals, the data isn’t as rosy as it seems. It skews heavily towards tech-forward, knowledge-work firms — ones that might have VC-backing and are growing fast anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to the hiring or just showing up at companies that are expanding anyway.
“This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,” the paper’s authors admit, “but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”
It also counters claims that AI is killing all junior jobs. Recent research from Goldman Sachs found that AI has already erased about 16,000 net jobs per month over the past year, with Gen Z and entry level workers taking the brunt of the burden. But in tech-forward firms, the report finds that entry-level headcount actually rose by 12%.
So what can we take away from this? Perhaps that AI isn’t always a tool for labor substitution, but that it can be a tool for firm-expansion instead.
“For software and technology firms, AI can make core output cheaper or faster to produce: writing code, debugging, building internal tools, producing technical documentation, and supporting product development,” the report reads. “Lower production costs in these workflows can raise the return to expanding the whole firm, not just the engineering team.”
But companies that buy subscriptions and run pilots, yet did not go on to make sustained investments, don’t tend to see any gains in headcount, per the report.
That sets up the potential for a widening gap between firms that have the resources — like capital, technical staff, founder networks, and management bandwidth — to turn AI adoption into actual business gains and those that are stuck experimenting with subscriptions. In other words, this report suggests that firms that already have the resources are the ones who will see the largest gains.
The paper’s authors speculate such a divide may continue to grow, saying: “Firms without those channels may fall behind.”
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#jobs #debate #messier #TechCrunchRamp,ai job loss,revelio labs


![‘Backrooms’ Wants You Back and Is Adding More Rooms (Footage)
Backrooms, the surprise hit of the summer, wants you back in the room. And by room, we mean theater. Its distributor, A24, is reportedly gearing up to release a new version of the film with 15 extra minutes of footage starting on July 3. According to the AMC Theaters website, the Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition “includes 15 minutes of new, theatrically exclusive post-credit bonus footage from [director] Kane Parsons.” What exactly is in that footage, we don’t know, and surely A24 is hoping you go to the theater to find out. We would be very, very surprised, though, if it expands too greatly on the mythology of the world or its creepy, ambiguous ending. That’s certainly the hope, but with a sequel almost certainly on the way, we’d imagine most secrets will be held until then. And yet, what about Backrooms has been traditional so far? We’re just speculating. It could very well be a whole new ending with twists and turns about what exactly the backrooms are, where they came from, and what their purpose is. The move comes as the summer season really heats up with the upcoming releases of Minions & Monsters, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day over the next few weeks. Currently, Backrooms sits at about $185 million domestically but grossed only about $4 million this past weekend, good enough for sixth place.
Adding additional footage to get a few more repeat viewings is probably aimed at crossing the $200 million mark domestically, which would be an incredible feat. Not that grossing over $185 million in the U.S. and over $330 million worldwide isn’t already an incredible feat on its own.
Are you ready to head back to the theater to see more Backrooms? Is there anything that could be added that would be a disappointment? Let us know below. And to check if the Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition is coming to your local theater, check its ticketing website. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Backrooms #Adding #Rooms #FootageBackrooms,Kane Parsons ‘Backrooms’ Wants You Back and Is Adding More Rooms (Footage)
Backrooms, the surprise hit of the summer, wants you back in the room. And by room, we mean theater. Its distributor, A24, is reportedly gearing up to release a new version of the film with 15 extra minutes of footage starting on July 3. According to the AMC Theaters website, the Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition “includes 15 minutes of new, theatrically exclusive post-credit bonus footage from [director] Kane Parsons.” What exactly is in that footage, we don’t know, and surely A24 is hoping you go to the theater to find out. We would be very, very surprised, though, if it expands too greatly on the mythology of the world or its creepy, ambiguous ending. That’s certainly the hope, but with a sequel almost certainly on the way, we’d imagine most secrets will be held until then. And yet, what about Backrooms has been traditional so far? We’re just speculating. It could very well be a whole new ending with twists and turns about what exactly the backrooms are, where they came from, and what their purpose is. The move comes as the summer season really heats up with the upcoming releases of Minions & Monsters, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day over the next few weeks. Currently, Backrooms sits at about $185 million domestically but grossed only about $4 million this past weekend, good enough for sixth place.
Adding additional footage to get a few more repeat viewings is probably aimed at crossing the $200 million mark domestically, which would be an incredible feat. Not that grossing over $185 million in the U.S. and over $330 million worldwide isn’t already an incredible feat on its own.
Are you ready to head back to the theater to see more Backrooms? Is there anything that could be added that would be a disappointment? Let us know below. And to check if the Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition is coming to your local theater, check its ticketing website. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Backrooms #Adding #Rooms #FootageBackrooms,Kane Parsons](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Backrooms-furnature-pile-1280x853.jpg)

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