They built the AI. Then they got laid off.
AI, higher pay for certain skills, and the reasons Big Tech keeps letting go of teams that still make money.
Hey there,
After what happened in Jalisco this weekend, a few people reached out to check if I was okay. I appreciate that.
But people outside Mexico sometimes forget how big the country is. The situation in Tapalpa and parts of Guadalajara was serious, but Mexico City, where most of our team is based, is over 500 kilometers away. Cancún is even farther—more than 2,000 kilometers. Most of Mexico went about business as usual.
I mention this because companies often make a similar mistake with global teams. One headline can shape the whole story. One event can lead to assumptions about an entire country.
If you’re hiring people from other countries, you can’t afford to oversimplify like that.
Let’s get into it.
🌐 News Shortlist
1. They built the AI. Then they got laid off.
Recap: Salesforce quietly laid off nearly 1,000 employees in early February, cutting roles across marketing, product management, data analytics, and its Agentforce AI team. This follows last year’s elimination of roughly 4,000 customer support roles, which CEO Marc Benioff attributed to AI agents handling support tasks. Five senior executives also exited between December and February.
It’s ironic: the people who built the automation tools ended up being replaced by them. The system is operating exactly as designed, with no contradiction in its logic.
Benioff has been more open than most. AI cut customer support jobs from 9,000 to about 5,000. Now, agents handle about half of customer conversations. Revenue is strong and efficiency has improved. The message is clear: if software can do your job, the company will choose higher margins.
It’s not just about cutting costs. It’s about shifting value. Support, marketing, and data teams got smaller, while sales grew. Companies are making it clear which roles they think matter most in an AI-driven world. The rest are seen as flexible.
Salesforce is just one example that helps explain what motivates companies.
Advice:
If you tell your team that AI is there to help, be clear about what that actually means. Spell out what will change and what won’t. People can deal with restructuring, but they struggle when leaders act like nothing important has changed.
2. AI skills now pay more than degrees
Recap: Research from Oxford and the World Economic Forum shows AI skills now command a 23% wage premium in the UK, compared to 13% for a master’s degree and 8% for a bachelor’s. Separate hiring experiments found listing AI skills significantly increases callback rates. Meanwhile, over 90% of professionals report receiving no formal AI training in the past year.
The market now values practical skills more than degrees. That’s a big change. Companies care less about your education and more about what you can automate.
But most companies are solving this the lazy way. They are paying premiums to hire externally instead of upgrading internally. That creates a small elite inside the company and a large group quietly falling behind.
If AI skills carry a 23% premium, training is no longer optional. It’s leverage. The companies that build AI fluency across teams will outcompete the ones poaching the same résumé keywords from each other.
Degrees show potential, but skills show results. The market is making its choice.
Advice:
Before you increase salary bands for your next AI hire, increase your training budget. Capability compounds internally. Recruitment premiums don’t.
3. Layoffs are accelerating. The framing hasn’t changed.
Recap: More than 40,000 tech workers have been laid off so far in 2026 across over 100 events. Amazon alone accounts for 16,000 cuts. Meta reduced 1,500 roles from Reality Labs. Several firms cite AI adoption and operational efficiency while simultaneously reporting strong revenues.
At this point, the script is predictable. Announce restructuring. Mention AI. Emphasize efficiency. Stock holds. Months later, new roles appear in different departments.
Margin discipline is driving this situation, not collapse. Many of these companies are profitable. They are not reacting to crisis. They are optimizing.
For smaller companies, this creates a window. The market is full of experienced operators who did not fail. They were reallocated out of the model.
But here’s the catch. If you hire them and run your company the same way Big Tech did, you will recreate the same churn.
Advice:
If you’re hiring, this is an opportunity. If you’re leading, don’t copy restructuring language without understanding the consequences. And if you were laid off, understand this: many cuts right now are strategic, not performance-based. That distinction matters.
That’s it for this week.
No grand thesis. No dramatic prediction.
Just remember: headlines get all the attention, but real incentives are quieter. If you pay attention to what companies reward, cut, and train for, you’ll see where things are headed.
And if you’re thinking about building teams that don’t rely on panic cycles, I’m always open to that conversation.
Until next time,
Joseph Burns
CEO & Founder, Lupa