Article argues recent tech layoffs reflect over-hiring during pandemic, not AI-driven job replacement

Block announced a 40% workforce reduction, citing 'intelligence tools,' but the author argues the cut reflects pandemic-era over-hiring rather than AI displacement. Major tech companies (except Apple) similarly over-hired during Covid based on extrapolated growth, then faced a sudden end to a decade of low interest rates.

The author contends AI is 'not good enough yet to do any of the jobs that are being eliminated' and that AI makes previously uneconomical projects feasible, creating more work rather than less—a dynamic known as Jevons Paradox.

Employees who can leverage AI to be more productive are more valuable than before, raising the question of why employers would eliminate them. The software field, most impacted by generative AI, shows evidence that job losses are not occurring as predicted.