New York has quietly become the first state to ask companies to disclose whether artificial intelligence (AI) is responsible for layoffs through a new checkbox in its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN).
Companies would need to indicate if “technological innovation or automation” is a reason for job cuts. If they choose that option, they are directed to a second menu where they are asked to name the specific technology responsible for layoffs, such as AI and robots.
The move, which took effect in March, is intended to help regulators understand AI’s impact on the labor market, Bloomberg reported.
Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed the change in her January 2025 State of the State address amid heightened tensions over AI’s impact on jobs — especially entry-level hiring at Big Tech companies.
The change comes as financial behemoth Morgan Stanley undertakes a reduction of its 80,000-person workforce by 2,000 employees later this month and replace some with AI. Earlier this month, Business Insider announced a 21% workforce reduction as the news outlet relies more on AI for content.
As 2025 grads hit the job market, this move by New York solidifies a rising “pink slip syndrome” and the wave of AI replacing versus retaining workers. Even Big Tech isn’t safe: Hiring at Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. tumbled 25% last year, or about half of pre-pandemic levels.
Roiling tensions even more, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted AI would wipe out 50% of entry-level, white-collar jobs within the next five years as well as take over all coding for software engineers within a year.
In April, Victor Lazarte, general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, warned AI was “fully replacing people” in law and recruitment.
With all the talk of job displacement in a dawning era of AI agents and digital workforces, tech workers in particular are jittery. But many of their employers see changes in job roles rather than elimination as automation seeps into organizational workflows.
“I’ve seen technology waves (mobile), and people tend to overestimate impact,” Shane Luke, vice president of product and engineering, and head of AI and machine learning, at Workday Inc., said in an interview. “Nobody predicts the logistic curve, and how things level off. It is an adaptive world, and people and employers will react to AI and adjust.”
David Brudenell, executive director at Decidr, Australia’s only publicly listed AI company, argues cutting junior talent is laziness, not innovation. The smartest businesses, he asserts, redesign roles before they redesign headcounts, and they shift humans to “higher-value tasks AI can’t touch” such as judgment, creativity, and relationships, he added.
“The latest move by NY to disclose AI-related layoffs is to encourage companies to consider the human implications of AI investments,” Brudenell said. “In this context, reskilling isn’t a side initiative — it’s a core business strategy. Companies that succeed will build fluid teams, blending employees, freelancers, and AI on demand. But they’ll also build safety nets that include fair pay, clear rights, and long-term relationships. The future will be fluid and human.”
