According to data from analytics firm Visier, covering 2.4 million employees at 142 companies worldwide, employers are rehiring an increasing number of people who were previously laid off due to AI.
According to data from analytics firm Visier, covering 2.4 million employees at 142 companies worldwide, employers are rehiring an increasing number of people who were previously laid off due to AI.
According to Visier's analysis, the rate of return to former employers has been relatively stable since 2018. But recently it has begun to increase rapidly and now accounts for about 5.3% of laid-off employees, writes TechSpot.
Andrea Derler, director of Visier, said the data suggests that many organizations are facing the practical realities of what AI tools can — and can’t — do.
This trend highlights the disconnect between technology expectations and actual operational outcomes. While AI agents and digital workforce management systems are proliferating across industries, Visier’s findings suggest that these systems rarely fully replace entire jobs.
Instead, they typically automate only parts of the tasks, leaving companies often lacking the human expertise needed to manage or complement the new tools. This gap has led some companies to bring back experienced employees as the costs and complexities of integrating AI increase.
Derler said many senior executives simply haven’t had the time to assess the true costs of large-scale AI deployments or determine which roles can realistically be automated. Implementing AI infrastructure — hardware, data processing systems, and security systems — requires significant capital expenditures. These costs often exceed early projections, forcing management teams to reexamine the actual return on investment versus retaining skilled workers.
The findings point to a significant planning gap that many leadership teams need to address quickly. While layoffs may provide short-term relief for balance sheets or improve investor perception, they rarely simplify long-term workforce or technology strategies. Ultimately, organizations that misjudge the potential savings from AI may find themselves having to bring back the same talent they let go of.
