They're Not Laying People Off. They're Deleting Them.

They're Not Laying People Off. They're Deleting Them.

Raj's login was deactivated on a Tuesday. No warning, no exit interview. One moment he was a senior data analyst at a mid-tier IT firm; the next, his employee ID bounced at the turnstile. The official HR email cited a “strategic realignment for future growth.” The truth, whispered by his former manager over a tense coffee, was simpler: the new AI agent he’d helped train was just cheaper. It didn’t need sleep, didn’t ask for raises, and its code, unlike his 12 years of institutional knowledge, was a company asset. Raj is 42. He’s not an anomaly; he’s a prototype. This isn't a story about automation. It's about a silent, shareholder-approved transfer of power that’s happening faster than our ethics, our policies, or our psyches can handle. How do you plan for a future that’s already deleting you?

The narrative sold to investors and the public is one of “augmentation” and “efficiency.” The ground truth is a brutal, bottom-line calculation masked by corporate euphemism.

The “Productivity Gain” is a Euphemism for Mass Deskilling. Mid Size IT Companies aren't just using AI to automate tasks; they're using it to dismantle complex jobs into micro-tasks. A developer’s role is fractured: an AI writes the code, a junior engineer (or a “prompt engineer”) instructs it, and a third party reviews it. This doesn't “augment” the developer; it replaces the need for their deep, integrative expertise. The goal is a lower-wage, interchangeable workforce managing AI outputs, not creating. The IP shifts from the employee’s brain to the company’s server.

The “Upskilling Promise” is a Mythical Safety Net. The industry chant is “reskill or perish.” But the timeline is a lie. Infosyss may have trained 250,000 employees in AI fundamentals, but fundamental awareness doesn’t equate to securing a job against an AI that learns exponentially. The reskilling is for the few who will design and maintain the systems, not the many whose jobs are being ingested by them. The math doesn’t add up: you can't reskill millions to be AI architects overnight.

This is a slow-rolling avalanche triggered by converging incentives.

The Investor Cult of “Efficiency”: For years, Wall Street and Dalal Street have rewarded companies for margin expansion, achieved through headcount reduction. AI is the ultimate lever for this. A Coforge or Mphasis can now promise investors double-digit EBITDA growth not through innovation, but through code that replaces payroll.

The Geopolitical Squeeze: “Uncertain macros” — slowing Western economies, clients tightening belts — created the perfect cover. It’s easier to sell a layoff as a necessary response to market conditions than as a voluntary shift toward a people-less future.

The Speed of Disruption: Previous tech waves (cloud, mobile) created new roles as fast as they destroyed old ones. Generative AI is different. Its capability to produce original content, code, and strategy is destruction-biased. It absorbs roles faster than the market can create new, equivalent ones.

While Indian IT services firms lead the charge in implementing AI for cost-cutting, the global picture reveals a strategic chasm.

In the US and EU, heavy unionization (like Germany’s IG Metall) and stricter labor laws are forcing a negotiated transition. Companies like Microsoft and Google are coupling AI rollout with massive internal reskilling grants and partnerships, understanding the societal and regulatory blowback of mass displacement.

Norway and Singapore are experimenting with sovereign wealth funds to potentially cushion citizens from technological unemployment, treating AI productivity gains as a national asset to be shared.

The Contrast: The Indian IT sector, with its vast, non-unionized workforce and less restrictive labor laws, is acting with a speed and finality that would be politically explosive elsewhere. The global standard is becoming “managed transition with a social contract.” The local reality is “accelerated ROI with optional severance.”

The “Productivity Plateau” Illusion: TheBrinks report show massive productivity jumps when AI is introduced. This is a mirage. It’s the initial shock of a new tool. What follows is a plateau, and then a decline in innovation as human intuition and creative risk-taking are optimized out of the process.

You get more code, faster. You get less groundbreaking software.

The Client Isn’t Always Right (or Informed): Global clients pushing for AI-driven cost reduction are often unaware of the hidden risks: loss of institutional knowledge, increased security vulnerabilities from AI-generated code, and the ethical liability of automating client-facing functions. The rush is creating a brittle, hollowed-out supply chain.

The Rise of “AI Washing”: Many firms are rebranding routine automation or pre-existing cloud contracts as “AI Transformation” to attract investor interest and justify headcount reductions, creating a dangerous market bubble.

TheBrinks What Happens Next (Predictive Analysis)

A staggered “bloodletting” over the next 18-24 months. Steady, quiet layoffs across mid-cap and tier-1 IT firms, masked by hiring freezes and “natural attrition.” Social unrest remains muted, absorbed by a large economy. Wage stagnation for mid-level roles becomes permanent.

A deep global recession hits in the next 24 months. Clients slash budgets drastically. IT firms, already primed for efficiency, trigger panic-driven, wholesale layoffs (100,000+) to protect margins. This leads to significant social upheaval, a crisis in white-collar confidence, and potential government crackdowns.

TheBrinks Early Warning Indicators to Watch:

A consecutive quarter of falling employee cost/revenue ratio at major IT firms.

A spike in “voluntary attrition” without replacement hiring.

Client contracts increasingly featuring AI-driven pricing models (e.g., per-automated-transaction instead of per-FTE).

The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that this only affects tech. The model is already being exported: to law (AI paralegals), finance (AI analysts), and media (AI reporters).

My question to you is this: What profession, widely considered “safe” from AI, will be the next to face its own “Raj moment” in the next 18 months, and why?

Reply with your best evidence-backed answer. The most compelling, actionable response wins $50.

Sponsor Thank-You

Special thanks to Anya R., a former project manager, who funded this research after her entire unit of 30 was made redundant by a process automation platform she’d helped scope. “They used our knowledge to build our replacement,” she wrote. “I need people to see this isn’t just business—it’s a choice about what kind of world we’re building.”

-Chetan Desai

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