And the economics of replacing people with AI are proving more complicated than expected. Two recent studies provide some interesting evidence.
1. KPMG: The cost vs value of AI are becoming a serious challenge.
KPMG's Global AI Pulse Q2 2026 (surveyed 2,145 senior executives across 20 countries) found that:
- 29% report difficulties understanding and controlling AI operating costs.
- 33% identify limited understanding of AI costs as a challenge to deploying AI agents.
- 49% have delayed, paused, narrowed, or scaled back AI agent deployments because expected costs began to outweigh anticipated value.
2. Careerminds: Companies are already rehiring after AI-related layoffs.
In February 2026, Careerminds surveyed 600 HR professionals from organizations that had conducted layoffs in the preceding 12 months. More than 75% (approximately 450–460) reported AI-related layoffs. Out of them:
- 32.7% reported rehiring for 25–50% of eliminated roles.
- 35.6% reported rehiring for more than half of eliminated roles.
- Among organizations that rehired, 52.1% reported doing so within six months.
- 30.9% reported that rehiring costs exceeded the savings achieved through the original layoffs.
Another interesting finding: 54.6% reported that AI required more human oversight than anticipated, making the layoffs not worth it.
What the evidence does establish is that AI replacement strategies have already failed economically or operationally in a considerable amount of organizations, resulting in reduced AI deployment, revised workforce decisions, and renewed hiring.
Links:
KPMG — Global AI Pulse Q2 2026
Careerminds — AI-led layoffs: What HR leaders wish they knew before making job cuts
