AI Job Fears Get Real in Tech: CEOs Admit Machines Are Replacing People

Layoffs linked to artificial intelligence are no longer speculative—tech leaders now say it’s happening, and yes, even their own jobs may be next

There’s a new kind of layoff whisper spreading across tech campuses—and it doesn’t come from budget cuts or market downturns. It’s coming from code.

Artificial intelligence, once hyped as the ultimate productivity booster, is now officially taking jobs. And the people confirming it aren’t critics or labor unions—they’re tech CEOs.

Fiverr’s CEO says the quiet part out loud

In April, Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman did something most executives wouldn’t dare: he admitted in writing that AI might take his job.

To 1,200 employees, he sent a memo that read, in plain terms: “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too.” He didn’t sugarcoat it. He didn’t spin it into some feel-good “let’s upskill together” corporate note. He just said it.

That message sent ripples through the company. Not because employees didn’t already know. But because hearing it from the top made it all very, very real.

“I hear the conversation around the office,” Kaufman told Forbes. “I hear developers ask each other, ‘Guys, are we going to have a job in two years?’”

One sentence here: Now that fear has been validated.

Big names, same fears

Kaufman isn’t alone in facing the AI reckoning. Other CEOs—some of the biggest names in the business—have echoed the same worry.

Here are just a few who’ve spoken up:

• Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, acknowledged in internal meetings that AI could restructure entire business units.

• Dario Amodei, cofounder of AI lab Anthropic, warned publicly that the speed of AI development may outpace job protections.

• Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify, has said automation already changed how his company handles internal processes.

And these aren’t people trying to stoke panic. They’re running companies that either build AI tools or integrate them deeply into their operations. If they’re nervous, maybe we all should be.

AI isn’t on the horizon. It’s already in the server room.

For years, we talked about AI like it was coming soon. Then it showed up.

In just the last year, tools like ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and Midjourney have proven they can do things once thought safe from automation. Writing code. Designing logos. Drafting reports. Building slide decks.

Suddenly, roles like content creators, junior developers, and data entry specialists are staring into the abyss.

And now, layoffs are hitting roles that match those tasks. The layoffs aren’t always branded as “AI-related,” but look closer, and the pattern emerges.

Short paragraph: It’s no longer about if—it’s about who’s next.

Employees are spooked, and leadership can’t hide it

In some companies, workers are already having hushed hallway conversations. At others, it’s out in the open.

A developer at a mid-sized tech firm in Austin told Forbes under anonymity, “We’ve stopped hiring new front-end people. Managers say it’s about budget, but we all know it’s because AI handles 80% of the work now.”

That sense of unease? It’s spreading.

Bullet point time—here’s what’s driving that anxiety:

• AI tools are being adopted faster than employees can upskill.

• Leadership often lacks clear plans for displaced workers.

• Cost-cutting now has a “justified” new face: automation.

• Internal training budgets are shrinking, not growing.

• Entire job categories are being redefined overnight.

And it’s not just the coders anymore.

Even the bosses are watching their backs

This part’s almost funny—if it weren’t so existential.

Some executives are genuinely worried AI will make their own decision-making redundant. Not in a metaphorical way, but in a very literal, algorithm-writes-the-strategy-deck kind of way.

“Once an LLM can track KPIs, generate board updates, simulate customer sentiment, and manage 100 Zoom calls… what do I do?” joked one VP at a major SaaS company. But he wasn’t really joking.

There’s a growing awareness that C-suite roles, once untouchable, are inching into AI territory too. Strategy models, hiring plans, market predictions—those are now all automatable to a degree.

One sentence again: It’s no longer clear where the “safe” layer starts.

What’s actually being lost—and what’s quietly changing

It’s easy to focus on job losses. But the less obvious part? Job dilution.

Some roles are still around but heavily reduced in scope. A UX designer might now be told to “polish what Midjourney gives us.” A copywriter gets asked to “clean up ChatGPT’s draft.” A junior engineer is told to “just fine-tune Copilot’s output.”

This subtle downgrade means:

The paycheck might stay the same—for now. But the value, and the challenge, are shifting.

The mental toll is real, too

Let’s not forget: fear eats morale. And morale eats productivity.

In some offices, the fear of being replaced is actually making teams less efficient. One product manager said her team hesitates to use AI tools in meetings “because they don’t want to train the thing that’s gonna eat their job.”

That constant stress wears people down. It’s harder to focus. Harder to plan long-term. Harder to care.