The June Jobs Report Nobody's Talking About — AI Layoffs Hit Record High

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: So the June jobs report for 2026 at first glance looks pretty good. It's pretty exciting. It shows an upward trend, but there is a kind of a dark backstory that nobody's really talking about. And I want to cover it briefly today. At first glance, again, this looks like good news. From Challenger and Gray, they showed 45,849 layoffs announced during the month of June, which is actually down 53% from May. And this is actually the lowest announced job cuts since the month of December. But again, once we start looking in deeper, that's when the story starts to flip around. For the fourth month in a row, companies blamed artificial intelligence as the number one reason for cutting jobs. 14,029 cuts in June alone. About one in three people that were laid off during June, during these announcements were laid off because of AI. The employee said, the employer said, yeah, less people, more AI. And again, this is some, this is basically the reason for the channel, guys. I could see the writing on the wall. I said, guys, if you don't start adapting these tools, if you don't start planning ahead now, if you don't start building additional streams of income, if you don't start learning new skills, if you don't start shaking hands with the right people, you could be on the chopping block because the reality is that companies are really, really diving into AI. Some industries more than others. And again, we'll talk about that in today's video as well. In any event, tech layoffs are up 83% this year versus last year. And tech accounts for nearly a third of every layoff in America. And again, this shouldn't necessarily be a surprise. Tech companies, layoffs, AI, it all aligns. And what starts at the top is certainly going to trickle down to every industry, guys. To date, that's over 100,000. It's 101,743 cuts attributed to AI. Guys, in 2026, 26% of all layoffs are directly attributed to AI. The company is replacing humans with AI. But here's the part that nobody's talking about, okay? Because the same week that this report dropped, companies that were firing workers because of AI realized that they went too far and started hiring them back. Ford, IBM, and a few others started quietly rehiring people because AI couldn't actually do the job. It didn't live up to the hype. In fact, Charles Poon, which I love that name, Charles Poon, Charles Spoon, Charles Poon, Charles Poon, who's Ford's vice president of vehicle hardware engineering said, quote, artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it. And here's exactly what the numbers say, guys, and what it means for your job and where things are going. Because again, and I think this is really important to keep in mind. If you do get laid off, if you do get fired, if you do feel like you're in a bad spot, don't crash out because these companies are not, like the AI, they're being sold this bill of goods where they say, hey, you can replace your entire team with AI. And then when it doesn't land, what do they do? They got to go back and start hiring. And your chance of getting hired with a company is much, much, much, much, much, much higher if you know somebody. And this is why, like, at least for me, I think one of the best things you, one of the things that you should be doing every week is making calls to people that maybe you like and respect, but you don't talk to very often. Just keep that engagement warm, keep that relationship warm, A. And B, at least two to three times a week, you should be posting on LinkedIn, sharing articles on LinkedIn about how AI is impacting your industry. Keep it warm and keep it fresh. I mean, guys, it takes like less than five minutes to make a post on LinkedIn three days a week. It's a pretty, pretty low lift. And it's good insurance. It's good insurance because people will start to know you as the guy in your industry who's forward thinking. And I think that's probably what's most important. Anyway, where are the layoffs happening? Again, technology led every sector. Again, we had over 15,000 cuts during June. That's almost 140,000 cuts year to date, which is up 83% year over year during the same stretch. Right now, again, tech accounts for nearly one third of all layoffs in the U.S. And Andy Challenger, who puts the report together for Challenger and Gray, said, quote, tech remains the epicenter of this year's cuts. AI is the dominant force as companies are restructuring around it, automating roles, and reallocating budgets toward new capabilities. The sector is being reshaped in real time. And I think it's good to really lean into that word and just double click on that word reallocating. Reallocating. This matches up perfectly with what we've seen. And basically, every tech company, they're freeing up cash. They're freeing up money so that they can reallocate into AI infrastructure, into AI agents. I mean, this lines up perfectly with what we talked about in yesterday's video. I'll post a link to it here. Cisco is deploying 90,000 or is deploying AI agents to, quote, support 90,000 employees. It is reallocating budget. They're laying people off. They're reallocating budget to AI and to these AI agents. It seems so obvious. And it's almost crazy to me that people are denying that this is happening. It's just, it's obscenely clear. It's obscenely clear. And for better or for worse, it is happening. And understanding it, seeing how it's playing out in your industry is important. Because again, the problems that you're solving today are not necessarily the problems you're going to be solving tomorrow. Following tech is services. Services had 4,300 cuts, totaling 21,000 this year, which is actually down from cuts last year. It's down 56% year over year. Food announced 4,000 cuts, which is up from last year. Healthcare, transportation also see an increase in job cuts from last year. Most of the hiring plans that we're seeing in this listing are sent around entertainment and leisure, government, industrial goods, apparel, and tech. And I think there's a couple of things that are important to notice there. A, we're in the summer. It makes sense that people are going to be wanting to go on vacation, entertainment, leisure. That makes sense. Also, I believe, and this is my opinion, as we kind of move into this new world that's full of AI and digital experiences, I think there is going to be a hunger for authenticity. I think there's going to be a hunger for experiences. And that's where I think leisure and so on and so forth, entertainment can see a resurgence. I mean, you want to go on a vacation, you want to get away from it all, you're stressed out. I think that that'll happen. I want an experience. I want, I hunger for that. I think that's going to happen. And the second thing I think that's interesting here is tech, right? You're seeing the most layoffs in tech. You're also seeing these hiring plans inside of tech. Why is that happening? Because AI is, it's just creating this kind of like, it's creating a grinder, basically. You know, people are getting ground out and then come back in, which is again, and I think we're going to see this in every industry, but again, is why I think it's important to follow those basic rules of be public, be on the front end of your industry and make sure that you're keeping your relationships solid, solid. Again, lots of disruption. It is happening. Layoffs are handling primarily in tech where the AI is rolling out. The AI is not meeting expectations, which requires companies to hire back. And there will be, there are opportunities for people to stand out in the crowd. Absolutely are. Absolutely will be. There's this, there's this, been this promise and this belief from AI doomers that AI is just, it's going to replace everyone. There's not going to be any jobs left over. And you know, there, I can, I get that fear. I'm not there, at least not yet. And again, I've shared this stack because I heard the other day, I thought it was shocking. 29 months in a row, we've seen a, seen a contraction in white collar work. A lot of white collar jobs are being replaced with AI. A lot of this administrative analysis data. This is the exact same stuff that you're probably using AI for, that I'm using AI for. And it's just, it's just interesting to see how it rolls out. But the relationships, the authenticity, I don't see that going away. And I just don't think a robot can, can fully replace that. All right. So anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the jobs report. If you have anything to add, put in the link below or put in the comments below, as you know, I've pinned your comments before I'll pin them in the future. If it is hot. All right, boys, I'll see you next video. Peace.