A MIT study in November 2025 showed that an estimated 11.7% of jobs can be automated by AI. Surveys have shown that employers are eliminating low-level jobs due to this technology. Companies are also considering AI as a cause of employee layoffs.
As businesses increasingly apply artificial intelligence more effectively, some businesses may consider more carefully the number of employees they really need.
In a recent survey by TechCrunch, many venture capitalists believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will have a major impact on the workforce of businesses by 2026. This is particularly interesting because the survey did not specifically ask about this issue.
Eric Bahn - co-founder and management partner at Hustle Fund - predicts there will be impacts on the labor market in 2026. However, he is not sure exactly what those impacts will be.
I want to see which jobs that are inherently repetitive will be automated, or even more complex jobs with more logical operations will be automated more. Will this lead to more layoffs? Will productivity be higher? Or is artificial intelligence just an addition to the current labor market to become more productive in the future? All of these seem to have no answer, but it seems something big will happen in 2026," Bahn said.
Marell Evans - founder and management partner at Exceptional Capital - predicts that companies that want to increase spending on AI will withdraw money from capital for labor and recruitment.
Rajeev Dham - CEO at Sapphire - agreed that the 2026 budget will begin to shift resources from labor to artificial intelligence (AI). Jason Mendel - a venture capitalist at Battery Ventures - added that AI will begin to go beyond just being a tool to help current workers work more efficiently by 2026.
2026 will be the year of AI agents as software expands from helping people work more efficiently to automating work itself, realizing the value of replacing human labor in some fields," Mendel said.
Antonia Dean - a partner at Black Operator Ventures - said that even if companies do not transfer human resources budgets to AI projects, they can still say that AI is the reason for layoffs or reduced labor costs.
Many AI companies argue that their technology does not eliminate jobs but only helps transform workers into "in-depth jobs" or jobs that require higher skills, while AI only automates repetitive "busy jobs".
But not everyone believes in that argument, and many people worry that their jobs will be automated. According to venture capitalists investing in this field, it seems that those concerns will not be subsided by 2026.
