Tech Industry Sees Mixed Impact from AI: Job Cuts and Gains Coexist in New Survey

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping the technology workforce in complex ways, with new data revealing both job losses and increased hiring across key IT roles. A comprehensive survey of 2,050 global executives, released by Snowflake, paints a nuanced picture of AI’s impact on employment—one that defies simple narratives of wholesale job elimination.

The Dual Reality: Cuts and Hires Happening Simultaneously

The survey findings reveal a striking paradox: many organizations are simultaneously reducing and expanding their IT workforce. For instance, 40% of executives report cuts to IT operations due to automation, yet 56% also report increased hiring for these same positions. This pattern repeats across multiple job categories.

In software development, 26% of organizations are seeing cuts while 37% are increasing hiring. Data analysts face a particularly balanced scenario: 37% report job losses while 37% report gains. The cybersecurity field shows similar dynamics, with 25% reporting cuts but 46% reporting increased hiring.

“This is not a simple story of jobs disappearing,” explains Baris Gultekin, Vice President of AI at Snowflake. “What we’re witnessing is a fundamental reorganization of work. AI is automating repetitive, manual tasks within these roles while simultaneously creating entirely new responsibilities around AI integration, governance, data engineering, security, and performance oversight.”

Beyond IT: Varied Impact Across Industries

Outside the technology sector, the impact of AI on employment is more straightforward but equally significant. Customer service and support staff have experienced the most dramatic changes, with a 37% decline in workforce among surveyed organizations. Only 15% report increased hiring in this area—a statistic that could reflect both AI automation and outsourcing trends.

Manufacturing and supply chain operations show modest changes: 6% of organizations are cutting jobs while 13% are hiring. Marketing departments report 16% cutting versus 12% hiring. These figures suggest that AI’s impact varies considerably by industry and function.

Evolution, Not Elimination

When executives were asked whether generative AI had driven job creation, job loss, or both, the responses revealed a complex landscape. Forty-two percent reported only job creation, 11% reported only job loss, and 35% indicated both creation and loss had occurred. Thirteen percent said AI had not affected their employment at all.

Overall, 77% of organizations reported some job creation, with or without accompanying job loss. “That finding indicates this is less about elimination of roles and more about evolution,” Gultekin notes. “As soon as AI moves beyond experimentation, the skill requirements shift dramatically.”

The Skill Gap Challenge

The survey identifies skill gaps as a major barrier to AI success for 35% of organizations. This finding is particularly significant because it suggests that the constraint is no longer just AI technology itself, but the expertise needed to ensure its success in enterprise environments.

“As companies move toward more advanced agentic use cases, the need for oversight grows,” Gultekin explains. “Someone has to ensure data quality, manage risk, and ensure these systems act responsibly. In that sense, AI does not remove the need for people, but it does change expectations around what those people need to know.”

The Path to Net Positive Employment

The data reveals an important correlation: organizations further along in AI adoption are more likely to report a net positive employment impact. This suggests that rather than an outright collapse in jobs, what’s actually occurring is talent reallocation toward more strategic, technical, and AI-enabled roles.

“Historically, major technology shifts change the composition of work more than they reduce total employment,” Gultekin observes. “We are seeing a similar pattern with generative and agentic AI. Some task-based roles are being automated, but demand is growing in higher-skill areas such as AI operations, cybersecurity, data engineering, and governance.”

Emerging Concerns About Agentic AI

The survey also explored business and technical concerns associated with agentic AI development and deployment. Leading concerns include interoperability issues (42%), legacy system incompatibility (39%), providing real-time data processing for agent decision making (42%), job displacement (29%), maintaining human oversight/preventing rogue actions by agents (29%), and concerns over data storage and use (29%).

These concerns highlight the complex challenges organizations face as they move beyond basic AI applications toward more autonomous systems.

The Bigger Picture

The current narrative around AI usurping technology jobs is “more complex than many think,” according to Gultekin. Rather than a simple story of displacement, the data suggests we’re witnessing a talent reallocation that favors those with the skills to work alongside AI systems.

As organizations continue to evolve their AI capabilities, the demand for workers who can bridge the gap between technical AI systems and business needs appears to be growing. This suggests that while the nature of many technology jobs is changing dramatically, the overall demand for skilled IT professionals may actually be increasing—just in different areas than before.

The key takeaway from this research is that AI is not simply eliminating jobs but transforming them. The future workplace will likely require workers to adapt continuously, developing new skills that complement rather than compete with AI systems. Those who can navigate this changing landscape—understanding both the technical aspects of AI and its business applications—appear positioned to thrive in the coming years.

Tags: AI job market, technology employment trends, workforce transformation, AI automation, IT hiring patterns, skill gaps, agentic AI, enterprise AI adoption, workforce evolution, technology skills

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