Teacher's Note

Why read this: Big tech companies are in the news. They say AI is the reason they are cutting jobs. This article helps students see that the real story is more than one reason. It is short and clear, so A2 readers can follow the news with their classmates and families.

What to notice: Notice the key idea in the Meta part. Meta is cutting workers and at the same time spending a lot of money on AI. So the workers are really paying for the company's AI plan. Notice how the writer uses simple words like "first, second, third" to list reasons. Notice that "AI is changing work" is true, but it is not the only reason for job cuts.

Skills practised: Reading short news in simple sentences. Finding reasons in a text ("first... second... third..."). Understanding numbers in news (2.5 percent, 20 percent, 600 billion dollars). Learning two key words for the topic: lay off and data centres. Talking with a partner about what is the same and what is different in the company story and the expert story.

Level: A2 · Length: ~240 words · Reading time: ~1 min

Graded ReadingA2

Tech companies blame AI for job cuts. Is that the full story?

Big tech firms say AI is taking jobs. But experts say there are other reasons too.

~1 min read·Published 2026-05-04

Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.

Some big tech companies are cutting jobs. They say AI is the reason. But experts say the real story is different.

Companies like Amazon, Atlassian and Block have thousands of workers. Their message is simple. AI can do the work, so we need fewer people.

Is this true? In some jobs, yes. AI can write code. AI can answer questions for customers. So young workers in tech jobs are finding it harder to get work.

But experts looked at the numbers. Most jobs are still done by people, not AI. A 2025 report said only about 2.5 percent of US jobs are at real risk from AI right now. That is not very big.

So what is really going on? There are other reasons for the job cuts.

First, many tech companies hired too many workers after 2020. Now they want a smaller team.

Second, when a company says “AI” to investors, the share price often goes up. So saying “we are cutting jobs because of AI” sounds better than “our profits are weak.”

Third, AI is very expensive. Big cost a lot of money. Meta plans to cut 20 percent of its workers. At the same time, Meta will spend 600 billion dollars on AI. The workers losing jobs are paying for the AI plan.

So AI is changing work. But it is not the only reason for these job cuts.