Automation

Silicon Valley's layoff machine restarted in earnest this month, but the cuts now target operations and customer support rather than engineering, signaling a strategic shift toward AI automation rather than belt-tightening. Companies are eliminating roles that large language models can plausibly handle, from first-tier customer service to content moderation and basic data analysis. The math is compelling: a customer service representative costs $50,000 annually while an AI agent handles the same volume for $2,000 in compute costs. This wave affects 15,000+ workers across Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and smaller SaaS companies, with more cuts expected as AI capabilities improve through 2025.