# IBM Reverses AI-Driven Layoffs, Plans to Triple Entry-Level Hiring

> IBM offers a striking counter-story to the AI-will-take-your-job narrative: it is hiring people back. After replacing much of its HR function with an AI system that now handles about 94 percent of routine requests, the company found that the remaining 6 percent, the cases involving genuine ethical judgment, still needed humans. IBM now plans to triple its US entry-level hiring in 2026. The reversal is not unique. According to the same briefing, roughly 32 percent of US hiring managers who cut roles because of AI later rehired for similar positions, a sign that early automation cuts often overshot what the technology could actually replace. The lesson is not that AI is useless at work, but that its competence is uneven. It can absorb the high-volume, repetitive share of a job while stumbling on the smaller slice that requires nuance and accountability. For companies that automated first and asked questions later, the correction is now showing up in their hiring plans, and in headcount they thought they had permanently removed.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Kelly Services · Published Wednesday, August 5, 2026_

## Wortins' read

IBM offers a striking counter-story to the AI-will-take-your-job narrative: it is hiring people back. After replacing much of its HR function with an AI system that now handles about 94 percent of routine requests, the company found that the remaining 6 percent, the cases involving genuine ethical judgment, still needed humans. IBM now plans to triple its US entry-level hiring in 2026. The reversal is not unique. According to the same briefing, roughly 32 percent of US hiring managers who cut roles because of AI later rehired for similar positions, a sign that early automation cuts often overshot what the technology could actually replace. The lesson is not that AI is useless at work, but that its competence is uneven. It can absorb the high-volume, repetitive share of a job while stumbling on the smaller slice that requires nuance and accountability. For companies that automated first and asked questions later, the correction is now showing up in their hiring plans, and in headcount they thought they had permanently removed.

## Source

[Read the full story at Kelly Services](https://www.kellyservices.com/insights/need-to-know-briefing-august-3-2026)

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