Dayo Ayeni, the Founder, CareerXpress, a digital marketing outsourcing portal, says that the recent layoffs by some tech giants globally are not solely because of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but largely due to economic shift.
Ayeni said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
He explained that most companies had overhired during the pandemic, anticipating continued boom times.
“When the global economy began to tighten, characterised by rising interest rates and inflation, these companies found themselves with unsustainable payrolls,” Ayeni said.
He noted that major tech players in the USA, like Google, Meta and Amazon, had undergone multiple rounds of job cuts, largely attributing it to over-hiring and a need to adjust to new economic realities.
Ayeni added that shifts in business priorities also played a part, with companies streamlining operations to focus on core profitable ventures.
“Here in Nigeria, the situation is similar, though on a smaller scale. Nigerian startups and fintech firms have also seen layoffs, often due to funding challenges, high operating costs, and currency instability,” he noted.
He stressed that the macroeconomic environment and altered investor expectations are major contributors, pushing companies towards greater efficiency.
Speaking on AI’s role, Ayeni noted that it was just a tool and not the mastermind behind the large job cuts, adding that it was more of an accelerant for broader restructuring rather than the direct cause.
He explained that generative AI and automation tools were indeed speeding up job displacement, especially in roles involving repetitive tasks like content moderation, customer service, and basic software engineering in the USA.
The Careerxpress boss said that for Nigeria AI’s immediate impact might be less direct.
He, however, warned that global trends could affect remote workers or outsourced roles performed for U.S. companies.
“AI is a core driver in enabling efficiency, but it is also being used as a convenient justification for wider cost-cutting measures in a tough economic climate,” he said.
Speaking about the benefits of AI, Ayeni noted that AI was creating demand for roles in machine learning, cybersecurity, and ethics.
He noted that Nigeria had unique opportunities in fintech and e-commerce, where AI could enhance fraud detection and personalise customer experiences.
However, Ayeni cautioned that Nigeria faced a unique vulnerability, which was the risk of global companies automating roles previously outsourced to Nigerian talent.
This, he explained, underscored the need for the Nigerian tech workforce to rapidly acquire higher-value and AI-resistant skills.
Ayeni emphasised that AI was fundamentally changing the nature of work within tech companies, leading to a need for different skill sets and potentially fewer traditional roles.
He highlighted that in the USA, there was a clear move towards skills like AI literacy, data science, and prompt engineering, noting that this meant less demand for routine coding or quality assurance roles.
Ayeni noted that Nigeria faced a dual challenge, developing a workforce equipped with next-generation skills while simultaneously addressing existing infrastructure and education gaps.
He noted that it was essential for Nigeria to focus on acquiring AI-related skills, but also develop unique human traits like critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, as these were harder for AI to replicate.
Ayeni said that roles that were vulnerable to AI and new opportunities emerging globally are customer support, basic content creation and IT helpdesk functions. (NAN)
