IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has clarified that the wave of layoffs across the global tech industry has little to do with artificial intelligence replacing jobs.
Instead, he said the real reason is simple: companies overhired aggressively during the COVID-19 boom and are now correcting their workforce sizes.
Speaking in a recent interview, Krishna explained that many tech firms expanded rapidly between 2020 and 2022, anticipating long-term demand that never fully materialised. As economic conditions shifted and growth stabilised, organisations began trimming excess roles.
Krishna noted that AI is not eliminating jobs at the pace people assume. He said automation will augment work, not wipe out large sections of the workforce overnight.
According to him, the current layoffs reflect a return to normal hiring levels after an unprecedented surge during the pandemic.
The IBM chief’s remarks come amid ongoing restructuring across major tech companies, many of which have announced further job cuts in 2025.
His comments aim to counter the narrative that AI is the primary culprit behind these decisions, emphasising instead the long-term impact of pandemic-era hiring spikes.