Eric Schmidt says AI could cut 20% of jobs at large companies
The former Google CEO expects coordination and middle-management roles, which he calls ‘glue people,’ to go first
Former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said artificial intelligence could cut about 20% of jobs at large companies as it automates administrative and management work.
Speaking on the “In Good Company” podcast, Schmidt said a company with 10,000 employees could potentially eliminate 2,000 positions. He expects the first cuts to hit what he called “glue people,” employees whose work centers on planning and coordinating data between teams.
Schmidt said he spent up to 12 hours a day in meetings while running Google, a burden he described as a “coordination tax” that every large organization pays in time, attention and salaries. He argued AI can lower that cost, and said a friend’s company had already made a 20% staff cut aimed at such roles.
He did not predict a wholesale wipeout. Schmidt said invention, sales, leadership and government relations would remain indispensable, and urged companies to handle workforce transitions in ways that are humane and legal.
AI, tech, and the markets they move—in one daily briefing.
Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy.
Kalshi traders price in more tech layoffs
Prediction market traders appear to share the outlook. On Kalshi, traders assign a 94% probability that layoffs in the US information sector will rise in 2026 compared with 2025.
The information sector covers much of the tech and media industries, overlapping heavily with the large, coordination-heavy companies Schmidt described.