For the tech CEOs leading the AI race and enriching themselves as they jostle for dominance, AI isn't a phantasm at all, but a glimmering unicorn. When they predict AI is just months away from being able to do everything a software engineer does, or that it will one day take over CEOs' jobs, their excitement for the future is palpable.
Job insecurity is real: More than half of American workers (54%) say insecurity about their job is causing significant stress at work, while more than a third (39%) say they worry they about losing their job due to changes in government policies, according to the American Psychological Association's 2025 Work in America survey. Layoffs are reportedly at an all-time high since 2009, along with the lowest hiring on record in the U.S.
For decades, tech companies have relied immensely on India's vast workforce, from entry-level call center jobs to software engineers and high-ranking managerial positions. But with the advent of advanced AI, which has been accompanied by employers greatly cutting back on hiring with the hopes of eventually automating tasks entirely, India's tech workers are having to cope with a vastly different reality in 2026.
Here are some eye-opening numbers: Last year, nearly 20 million Americans got pink slips. By June of this year, 10 million employees had been dismissed from a range of industries and companies, including blue-chip tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, as well as once secure federal agencies. A whopping 1.6 million workers are laid off each month. Losing your job is a perpetually looming threat: 40% of American workers report being terminated at least once in their careers;