AI and the Workplace Dilemma: Balancing Efficiency and Employment
By: Joshua Kelly
Introduction: A Workforce at a Crossroads
An article released by the Washington Post earlier this week calls upon Workforce laying off 262 employees in favour of AI counterparts. Although this move sparks controversy and angst, such a restructure could be pivotal to start the introduction of more AI based systems to not only improve productivity, but allowing organizations to become more efficient with less dead space.
The Current Transition
Our current workplace stigmas are in a transitional phase that we’ve never experienced before. In a time of AI integration becoming more efficient than ever, this transition highlights the question of a genuine need to have so many employees. It creates a dilemma as AI integrations favour workplace efficiency over the jobs and opportunities created in a general society. Especially in a time of volatile economic stability, it's becoming more difficult to pick between the two.
Corporate Restructuring and AI Adoption
Salesforce is a powerhouse when it comes to cloud storage integration and is one of the forerunners when it comes to AI integration. This decision made earlier this week will indefinitely spark change in other organizations. This layoff is also coming after Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella laid off more than 15,000 employees earlier this year in favour of AI efficiency. Other large enterprises such as Amazon have also come out and made it clear that AI will lead to the loss of jobs in the future, although undetermined what sectors of the company will be replaced.
Labour Market Trends and Statistics
When taking statistics into consideration, labour markets are often at the front of discussion. StatsCanada recently came out with their August evaluation of Canada’s employment rate dropping 0.3% while the unemployment rate has risen to 7.1%, the highest rate of unemployment in the last nine years (excluding COVID-19). These rates are affecting all demographics of Canadians when it comes to finding a job. Critics argue that AI adoption is contributing to this trend yet it’s equally important to recognize that AI is not only eliminating certain roles but also creating new categories of employment. Demand for AI engineers, data scientists, and workflow specialists is rising quickly. In many ways, AI is building its own parallel industry, one that values technical expertise and adaptability.
Studies and Global Perspectives
Recent studies have also supported this dual narrative. A Stanford report compared entry-level workers affected by automation to “canaries in a coal mine,” which highlights that routine jobs are the most vulnerable to displacement. The researchers found that these workers, often younger and less experienced, face the highest risk of being replaced by automation. Unlike past technological shifts, where low-skill jobs were the first to go but new opportunities in manufacturing or services emerged, AI threatens a far broader range of professional pathways. In particular, It should be highlighted that entry-level positions traditionally serve as the stepping stone for building skills and advancing careers. If these roles are taken away, workers may be denied the opportunity to gain real-world experience. This effectively leads to killing career ladders before they even begin. Another perspective comes from a major study by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which modeled the long-term economic effects of AI adoption in the UK. Their analysis projected that between one and three million jobs could be displaced in the private sector over the next two decades. Although this idea affirms the Stanford report it must be said that the institute stresses that the long-term picture is more nuanced. While displacement is real, overall unemployment is not expected to rise sharply. Instead, the economy is likely to undergo a structural transformation, with new forms of employment emerging to replace those lost. The report highlights that jobs in AI development, data governance, and digital ethics will expand significantly, while industries such as healthcare and education could also benefit from AI-driven efficiency gains that create fresh demand for human expertise. The study estimates that widespread AI adoption could boost the UK’s GDP by as much as 6% by 2035, amounting to hundreds of billions in added economic value. This growth would, in theory, generate resources to reinvest in worker retraining, social safety nets, and innovation ecosystems. Although these studies do affirm the case that people are losing jobs, in the long term it is equally important to understand that the overall workforce is reshaping and bridging persistent productivity gaps at the same time.
The Efficiency Argument
One of the clearest advantages for AI adoption is the ability to increase efficiency across all levels of the workplace. From a basic understanding, efficiency means saving time and reducing waste. Time is essential when it comes to growing businesses at any size, so why force employees to spend large portions of their day on repetitive, low-value tasks. Events such as entering data, writing routine reports, or scheduling can be easily automated tasks, which could allow workers to redirect their time toward higher-value activities like strategic thinking, creativity, and relationship-building. AI can be pivotal for companies struggling with completing deadlines to progress with the same standard as human completion. This setback of mundane routines can be relieved from employees, allowing them to be more productive. AI systems can process massive amounts of data in real time, identifying patterns and risks that would take humans far longer to recognize. For example, a survey completed by GitHub shows that developers using their Copilot program completed tasks over 50% faster than those without it. This isn’t because the AI replaced these tasks, but because it eliminated the time spent on troubleshooting and searching for solutions. From a more analytical perspective, AI driven tools that focus on analytics, such as Microsoft Power BI, allows for quicker and more informed choices about budgeting, supply chains, and customer strategies. This leads to fewer costly mistakes and a stronger competitive edge on other companies within the same industry. This lack of human error and AI assistance allows for more consistency without the same fear of incoherent reports. Furthermore, from a more global standpoint, research from the IMF has shown that widespread adoption of AI could directly boost total factor productivity across Europe by around 1% over five years. While in certain scales 1% may not mean a lot, this increase in productivity translates to billions in added economic value when scaled across industries and nations. This growth creates the resources needed for reinvestment into innovation, infrastructure, and wages, potentially raising living standards in the long term. As well, more targeted surveys such as small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK found that 77% of those using AI reported productivity improvements, with half seeing measurable results in just three months. Whether through faster customer service response times, reduced administrative burdens, or smarter inventory management, AI helps smaller firms work better allowing them to compete at a level they wouldn’t have been able to afford.
Conclusion: The Paradox of Progress
In conclusion the paradox is clear. AI boosts efficiency but risks undermining traditional employment structures. The Salesforce layoffs, Microsoft’s restructuring, and Amazon’s warnings all point to a future where fewer human workers are needed for the same output. While this may improve corporate margins and investor confidence, it creates real challenges for governments tasked with maintaining stable employment and for communities dependent on jobs at risk of automation. This divide on opinion comes down to preference, yet it shouldn’t surprise people that AI integration is most likely the future. The same way that car companies started automating the production line from humans to machines, this idea of opting for more efficiency has constantly been a staple of our society.
Sources:
Statistics Canada (2025, September 5). Labour Force Survey, August 2025.
Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250905/dq250905a-eng.htm
The Washington Post (2025, September 6). Salesforce lays off 262 employees in favour of AI-driven automation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/06/salesforce-benioff-automation-jobs
The Economic Times (2025, March). Microsoft layoffs: CEO Satya Nadella says move to cut jobs is “weighing heavily but necessary” for AI strategy.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/microsoft-layoffs-ceo-satya-nadella-says-move-to-cut-9000-jobs-weighing-heavily-but-necessary-for-/articleshow/122902608.cms
Stanford Digital Economy Lab (Brynjolfsson, E., Chandar, B., & Chen, W.) (2025, August). Canaries in the Coal Mine: Generative AI’s Impact on Entry-Level Jobs. Stanford University.
https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Canaries_BrynjolfssonChandarChen.pdf
British Safety Council (2024, November). AI could displace 3M UK jobs, but losses to be offset by newly created roles.
https://www.britsafe.org/safety-management/2024/ai-could-displace-3m-uk-jobs-but-losses-to-be-offset-by-newly-created-roles-report-finds
Next Steps
AI adoption raises critical questions for every organization: How do you capture the efficiency gains without undermining workforce resilience? What roles should automation play in your business model? And how do you build a roadmap that balances productivity with people?
Unlock Solutions works with enterprises and market leaders to answer these questions. Our advisory team helps organizations:
Assess AI capability maturity across strategy, governance, data, processes, people, and business value
Identify automation opportunities that drive measurable efficiency gains
Build structured roadmaps that balance transformation with workforce impact
Deliver training and adoption programs to ensure employees thrive alongside AI
If your organization is exploring AI integration, or already facing the workplace dilemmas outlined above, let’s connect.
Contact Us Today to Learn More