🔍 Read the full analysis: Some Workers Lose Jobs To AI, Then Get A Call To Return on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A survey commissioned by talent-software company SHL found that 19.1% of surveyed US workers said an employer had replaced them with AI and later asked them to return. Other employer surveys report rehiring after AI-related cuts, but the evidence is based largely on self-reports and surveys sponsored by companies selling workforce services. The clearest documented case cited is Commonwealth Bank’s apology to 45 call-center workers.
Surveys published in 2026 report that some workers who said they were replaced by artificial intelligence were later asked to return to their jobs, while an Australian bank apologized to 45 call-center workers after an AI voice bot was introduced. The figures suggest companies may be bringing back people after AI-related cuts, but they do not establish how often AI directly performed the work or caused the layoffs.
SHL, a company that sells talent-assessment software, commissioned an online survey of 2,036 employed adults in the United States and United Kingdom in June and July 2026. In the results published October 29, 19.1% of US respondents and 12.8% of UK respondents said they had personally been replaced by AI and later asked to return by the same employer. The figure was 23.8% among respondents aged 18 to 24. SHL reported a five-percentage-point margin of error.
The survey measured what respondents said had happened to them; it was not a verified count of workers whose tasks were taken over by AI. The question asked about being laid off or replaced by AI and later asked back, leaving room for respondents to interpret what counted as an AI replacement. A separate February survey by outplacement company Careerminds found that about two-thirds of HR professionals at companies that had cut jobs for AI said their organization had rehired at least a quarter of those roles. Careerminds also reported that only 26.7% said the rehiring and cuts left the company financially ahead; 30.9% said rehiring cost more than the cuts saved, and 42.4% said the result was about even.
Other surveys point in a similar direction, though they also rely on organizational or hiring-manager responses. Orgvue reported that 32% of organizations that cut staff on the promise of AI cost savings had to rehire. Robert Half said 32% of US hiring managers who eliminated roles after adopting AI later reinstated them. Forrester forecast that half of AI-attributed layoffs would be reversed, often quietly. That is a prediction, not a measured outcome.
Infographic 01 · Who counted the boomerang
Four surveys, four sponsors, one pattern
Workers and employers both report AI layoffs that were reversed. Every number comes from a company that sells a fix, so here is who asked whom, and when.
SHL
2,036 employed adults, US + UK, online panel · Jun–Jul 2026
Careerminds
600 HR professionals at firms with layoffs · Feb 2026
Orgvue
300 US HR managers · Sep 2025
Robert Half
US hiring managers (sample not published) · published 2026
Forecasts, not measurements
- Forrester: half of AI-attributed layoffs “quietly reversed”, jobs returning “offshore or at lower wages”.
- Gartner (reported): half of firms that cut customer-service staff for AI rehire for similar functions by 2027; 30% of AI-cut employees need rehiring by 2029.
Each survey asks a different question, so the numbers can’t be added up or compared directly. “Because of AI” is self-reported. SHL’s margin of error: 5 points at 95% confidence (whole sample).
Sources: SHL, Talent Mobility at Work in 2026 (29 Oct 2026) · Careerminds, 19 Feb 2026 · Orgvue, 12 Mar 2026 · Robert Half · Forrester, Predictions 2026 · Gartner, as reported by CX Dive.
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The Cost of Reversing AI Cuts
For workers, being asked back may mean renewed employment, but it does not necessarily mean a return on the same terms. SHL reported that half of surveyed workers would want a significant pay increase to return. Forrester expects some reversed jobs to return offshore or at lower wages. Those are survey findings and forecasts, not evidence that every rehired worker received a pay cut or raise.
For employers, the reported costs raise questions about whether expected AI savings account for the work people still need to do, the expense of rehiring, and disruption when experienced staff leave. Careerminds’ figures indicate that many surveyed organizations did not report coming out ahead financially after bringing roles back. The surveys do not establish that AI itself failed in each case; a company may have cut too deeply, misjudged a workflow, or changed its staffing plan for other reasons.
The distinction matters because public announcements often describe job cuts as AI-related without showing which tasks the technology took over. A return to work can be a sign of operational trouble, but it is not by itself proof that automation was abandoned. Readers should treat the emerging “AI boomerang” label as a description of reported returns, not a single verified industry-wide trend with a known scale.
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What the Reported Cases Show
The clearest documented reversal in the source material is at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The bank cut 45 call-center jobs as it introduced an AI voice bot. Weeks later, the union said calls were accumulating and team leaders were answering them. The bank apologized to the 45 workers and described the cuts as an “error.” The union’s account of call volumes is an attributed claim; the available material does not provide independent operational data.
Other examples should not automatically be described as AI layoffs reversed. Ford hired roughly 300 veteran engineers to check designs by hand after its chief executive told reporters the company had expected AI to deliver quality on its own. The source material does not say Ford had cut those engineers because of AI. Amazon said rehiring former employees was routine, rather than confirming a specific reversal of AI-related job cuts.
The surveys arrive amid broader claims about AI and employment. A report cited in the source material said US employers announced 120,136 job cuts attributed to AI in the first nine months of 2026, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, compared with 54,836 for all of 2025. These figures record reasons given in announcements; they do not independently verify that AI performed the work or caused each cut.
““error””
— Commonwealth Bank of Australia
How Much AI Caused the Returns
The available figures are mainly survey responses and forecasts, not audited records of individual layoffs and rehiring decisions. SHL’s respondents may have understood “replaced by AI” in different ways, and its five-point margin of error limits precision; the US subgroup is smaller than the full sample. The result should not be treated as a census of workers or companies.
Several studies were commissioned by firms that sell services related to hiring, workforce assessment, redeployment or layoffs. That does not invalidate their results, but it is relevant when interpreting methodology and framing. The source material does not supply enough detail to independently compare every survey’s question wording, sampling or definition of an AI-related cut.
It also remains unclear how many returned workers resumed the same role, whether their pay or conditions changed, and whether a human was rehired because AI tools failed or because the company’s needs shifted. Outside the 45 Commonwealth Bank jobs, the examples provided do not establish a large, independently documented set of AI layoffs later reversed.
Evidence Needed to Track Rehirings
The next useful evidence would be employer-level records showing which positions were eliminated, what AI system was introduced, whether the work was automated, and how many people were later rehired into the same or comparable roles. Such data would help distinguish an AI replacement from a broader restructuring followed by a change in staffing needs.
For now, the reported surveys offer an early indication that some employers may be reversing or revising AI-related staffing decisions, but they do not settle how common those reversals are. The Commonwealth Bank case provides a specific reported example; broader claims about the scale and financial impact will depend on more transparent data and follow-up reporting.
Key Questions
How many US workers said they were replaced by AI and then asked back?
In SHL’s survey, 19.1% of US respondents said this had happened to them. The result is self-reported, with a five-percentage-point margin of error, and is not a verified count of workers.
Which case involved 45 workers?
Commonwealth Bank of Australia cut 45 call-center jobs as it introduced an AI voice bot and later apologized to the workers, calling the cuts an “error.” The union said calls were piling up and team leaders were back on the phones.
Did Ford reverse AI-related layoffs?
The source material says Ford hired roughly 300 veteran engineers to check designs manually. It does not say Ford had laid them off because of AI, so the hiring should not be presented as a confirmed AI-layoff reversal.
Do the surveys prove AI failed to replace the jobs?
No. The surveys report what workers or HR professionals said, and they do not independently verify what tasks AI performed or why employers rehired. A return may reflect staffing or operational decisions beyond the technology’s performance.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
