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Today, Google's Chief Business Officer released a memo announcing another round of layoffs! This time, most of the "graduated" employees were replaced by AI. The "2024 Technical Recruitment Status" shows that 21% of programmers are already worried about unemployment. And an IMF report shows that AI will affect 40% of global jobs.

AI is indeed replacing humans!

Just a few days ago, Google had just laid off thousands of employees from its core engineering department, Google Assistant, hardware, and AR departments.

Today, some employees from Google's advertising sales department also received their "graduation."

Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler's latest memo - the "graduation letter" to Google employees

Generative AI is causing a large number of Google employees to be directly laid off.

The day has finally come.

Google lays off hundreds more employees as the advertising department begins using AI for sales

Foreign media described it as: Google employees are developing AI tools to lay off other Google employees.

As early as December last year, news of layoffs in Google's advertising sales department was already brewing.

Today, Google has begun laying off hundreds of employees from the advertising sales team.

This round of layoffs mainly affects the "Large Customer Sales" (LCS) team, which is responsible for serving Google's largest advertising clients.

Why are so many people being laid off or transferred?

Because AI is replacing them.

Recently, Google's advertising has begun integrating a large number of generative AI features.

Chatbots can help people browse through a large number of advertising products.

Another AI system can create images and text-based advertising assets based on the budget and goals provided by the ad buyer.

Google's generative AI advertising system uses click-through rates as an instant feedback system to autonomously remix and adjust ads.

In the past, tasks such as providing sales guidance, creating artistic assets, and deciding on text and layout were done by humans, but now AI can do these tasks a thousand times per second.

Schindler hinted that the layoffs will mainly affect the "Large Customer Sales" (LCS) department, while the Google Customer Solutions team (GCS) selling ads to small customers will become the "core" advertising sales team.

According to Google, the layoffs are due to changes in the way the Google sales team operates.

It is clear that although the memo does not explicitly mention that AI has led to the layoffs, there is no doubt that the recent series of layoffs at Google is the first wave of layoffs caused by generative AI in the industry.

Google has not yet announced the number of layoffs this year.

However, due to the layoffs of hundreds of people last week and the recent reduction of hundreds more jobs, the number of layoffs has definitely risen to over 1,000.

1 in 5 programmers is afraid of unemployment

Is AI really increasing the efficiency of programmers' work, or is the risk of unemployment greater?

Recently, the technical recruitment platform CoderPad released a report on the "2024 Technical Recruitment Status," which shows that 21% of developers have very low job security.

In other words, one in five developers feels they will be unemployed.

CoderPad surveyed over 13,000 developers from 149 different countries/regions and 5,500 HR professionals from 143 countries.

Many people also feel that their abilities are insufficient to support a job change.

It seems that developers, both domestically and internationally, are under a lot of pressure.

Working with AI while worrying

However, in the face of the impact of AI, the vast majority (70%) of developers believe that AI-assisted tools can help them do their work better. Especially in the following areas:

• Code assistance
• Learning and tutorials
• Code autocompletion and generation
• Documentation and API support

Among them, about 67% of developers say they have already incorporated AI into their work.

One anonymous interviewee said, "I use AI to assist in writing code. Writing code by hand is a waste of time, such as using different URLs or short script tools to write fetch functions in Python."

As for the most popular AI tool, ChatGPT is used by as many as 60% of developers. Other frequently mentioned AI tools include Copilot, Bard, Bing AI, Midjourney, and so on.

Among the remaining developers, 23% are skeptical, and 6% are even worried that AI will take their jobs.

Overall, optimists account for 43.21%, neutrals account for 27.26%, and pessimists account for 22.97%.

But the impact of AI on the job market is far more than just income reduction and layoffs.

A few days ago, Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, stated, "40% of jobs globally will be affected by AI. Artificial intelligence is indeed frightening, but it is also a huge opportunity for everyone."

Domestic job market sparks AIGC craze

In China, with the popularity of ChatGPT, AIGC, known for improving quality and efficiency, has also been highly sought after by employers.

According to the latest "2023 Employment Trend Data Report" released by Liepin, during the period from January to October 2023, the number of positions requiring AIGC skills not only increased by 179.19% compared to the previous year, but the recruitment salaries were significantly higher than equivalent positions without this requirement.

Statistics show that the salary gap is largest in machine vision, reaching 62.44%. The average annual salary for machine vision positions requiring AIGC skills is 484,500 RMB, while those without this requirement only earn 298,300 RMB.

At the same time, positions such as pre-sales technical support, large customer sales, and graphic design, whether or not they require AIGC skills, also result in a salary difference of over 50%.

For companies, under equal conditions, 57.04% will prioritize candidates with AIGC skills.

Job seekers who indicate their proficiency with AIGC tools on their resumes are contacted by companies an average of 7.95 times, significantly higher than the 4.76 times for those who do not indicate this proficiency.

Among them, algorithm engineers who indicate proficiency in AIGC skills are contacted the most, with an average of 15.72 times, 6.21 times more than those who do not indicate this proficiency. This is followed by strategic planning/management, new media operations, and industry research.

Dual enhancement of demand for data labeling talent and advanced sense

Interestingly, the popularity of AIGC has also led to a significant increase in demand for the previously less noticed "data labeling" positions, increasing by 34.43% compared to 2022.

In terms of industry distribution, the new positions are mainly concentrated in the internet, computer software, and artificial intelligence industries, accounting for 29.65%, 12.7%, and 9.96% respectively.

It is worth noting that although the average annual salary for data labeling positions has reached 123,800 RMB, there is a significant difference in salaries across different categories, ranging from below 10,000 RMB to 20,000-40,000 RMB.

Generally, positions involving daily text and image data labeling tend to have lower salaries. Conversely, data labeling in specialized fields such as law, medicine, and cross-border e-commerce language skills commands higher salaries.

In response to this, Li Zhifei, founder and CEO of SenseTime, stated that proficiency in AIGC tools is valuable for improving efficiency, especially for employees in enterprises.

Although generative AI is efficient, it requires guidance (such as using prompts and dialogue) and oversight (such as selecting AIGC, including moderate post-editing) by humans to be used confidently and efficiently. These skills require continuous learning and practice by employees.

Therefore, job seekers can start learning to use AIGC tools early to enhance their competitiveness and bargaining power in the job market.

IMF President Speaks Out: 40% of Global Jobs Affected by AI, but also a Huge Opportunity

In the face of the impact of AI, the International Monetary Fund also stated in its latest report that nearly 40% of jobs globally will be affected.

Among developed economies, 60% of jobs will be affected, while in emerging markets and countries, the figure is approximately 40%, and in low-income countries, it drops to 26%.

Among the jobs affected by AI, half will experience negative impacts, and some jobs will even disappear completely.

For the other half of the jobs, AI will bring about efficiency improvements, and workers who can quickly embrace AI will also see their income levels rise.

Specifically, research shows that artificial intelligence can help less experienced workers increase their productivity more quickly. Younger employees may find more opportunities, while older employees may struggle to adapt.

If this situation further develops, it will quickly lead to income polarization: workers who can fully utilize artificial intelligence will see their productivity and wages increase, while those who cannot will experience a significant decrease in productivity and income.

This situation, when mapped to the labor market, will further exacerbate this polarization: many jobs affected by AI technology will disappear, and the income from new jobs created by AI technology will be relatively high due to the scarcity of personnel.

This macro-level assessment, when applied to developers and the AI industry, clearly indicates that developers are becoming increasingly concerned about their career prospects.

Especially for newly-entered developers, because their work is relatively easy to be automated by AI technology, the demand for their labor will decrease, and their income will also be affected.

However, for algorithm engineers developing AI technology, as well as many positions emerging with the Gen AI wave, their income and labor demand will continue to rise.

In response to the content of this report, IMF President Kristalina Georgieva stated, "Artificial intelligence is indeed frightening, but it is also a huge opportunity for everyone."

The IMF President's statement has also become a hot topic on Zhihu. Indeed, it is still difficult to reach a consensus on the short-term impact of AI on employment and the labor market, whether it is pessimistic or embracing AI, as all sides seem to have valid points. It is not easy to simply consider AI as an opportunity or a challenge for most people.

But one thing is certain, if AI is indeed going to bring about huge changes, then those who can embrace AI will definitely have the initiative and advantage.

Memo from Google's Chief Business Officer

Today, Google's Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, sent a memo to employees, officially announcing layoffs. Take a look.

At last month's GBOLive, I introduced our GBO 2024+ strategy to everyone. We had an open discussion about the rapid changes in the business reality, the impact of artificial intelligence on us, and how we can further focus on driving growth for our customers and partners. As part of the meeting, I also made it clear that a major channel shift is imminent. Of course, it is a common practice for GBO to regularly adjust the organizational structure based on customer needs, market conditions, and available resources. This is not new for GBO, and we have been continuously adjusting, on a large or small scale, for many years and will continue to do so in the future. In the past six months, we have implemented strategic adjustments for three teams: global partners, gTech, and global product solutions. Each adjustment is made to address challenges and prioritize the needs of customers and partners. These changes have accelerated decision-making internally, simplified processes, and reduced hierarchy and redundant work. This week, we will announce new developments in the LCS and GCS sales operations model. We are always committed to allocating the right customers to the most suitable channels for growth and providing the best support model and smooth operations. Every year, we conduct rigorous channel management to evaluate and adjust customer allocation. Although this year's adjustments will be larger than usual (similar to 2016 and 2017), it will fully leverage the strengths of each sales team. Looking ahead, GCS will become the core channel for our expansion, providing precise services to each customer, while LCS will focus on achieving transformational growth for our largest and most complex customers. However, in this transition, hundreds of positions will be eliminated or at risk. We will fully support the affected GBO employees, and they can apply for vacancies within the team or other positions at Google. Unfortunately, we will have to bid farewell to many talented and outstanding sales colleagues, and I have instructed relevant personnel to communicate with the affected employees on a one-on-one basis. These conversations will start comprehensively from tomorrow, and we will notify everyone of the follow-up steps as soon as possible and with respect, in order to minimize uncertainty. I believe that the decisions we have made for our customers, partners, and our business are the right ones, but for many people, especially members of the LCS team, this will be a difficult experience. Thank you all for always supporting each other with empathy, respect, and kindness.

References:

https://coderpad.io/survey-reports/coderpad-and-codingame-state-of-tech-hiring-2024

https://arstechnica.com/google/2024/01/google-lays-off-hundreds-more-as-ad-division-switches-to-ai-powered-sales/

https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240114-ai-to-impact-60-of-advanced-economy-jobs-says-imf-s-chief

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