#automation · How AI Is Reshaping Work

California's 2026 session ended August 31 with 26 AI-related bills passed and 24 now on Gov. Newsom's desk. SB 951 would require covered employers to give 90 days' notice before any technological displacement hitting 25% or more of the workforce. AB 1018, which would have regulated AI in employment decisions outright, did not pass.

A three-year contract UFCW published on August 28 carries one sentence: no employee in the unit may be 「terminated, laid off, demoted, or suffer a reduction in regularly scheduled hours」 because of AI. The unit is seven booksellers in Washington, D.C.

BLS published its 2025-35 Employment Projections on August 27: 5.9 million net new jobs over the decade, total employment from 170.3 million to 176.2 million, growth of 3.5% against 10.9% in the prior decade. Office and administrative support falls 4.0% and sheds 752,100 jobs, the largest decline of any major occupational group.

Walmart raised full-year guidance on August 20 on comps led by transactions, not ticket. The numbers to file away came later in the call: 3,100-plus stores on automated freight, and a headcount policy that says 2.1 million stays 2.1 million.

JD released its robot strategy at the World Robot Conference on August 19: 10B yuan-scale investment through 2028, an after-sales network across 100-plus countries, 80 RoboBase sites, and a pledge of more than 100,000 new robot service engineer roles.

Andon Labs' AI store manager recommended terminating an employee, the first known firing decision by an LLM. The logs show engineers had to prompt it to go read its own attendance policy.

Genpact posted $1.343B in Q2 revenue, up 7.1%, with employees down both sequentially and year over year. The CEO said the company is 「just getting started」 on headcount.

TikTok confirmed it is shutting its Nashville office and cutting 250 roles, some in content moderation. In the same company's Q1 report, 178 million of 184 million removed videos were caught by automated detection.

Visa is cutting roughly 2,600 jobs, about 7% of its workforce, and pointing at AI — even as insiders say automation wasn't the primary driver.

Uber cut about 10% of its Community Operations support staff and, for the first time, pinned the layoffs on its push to embrace AI.

Israeli legaltech startup Darrow cut about 60 of 180 staff — many of them the legal analysts whose work built the AI that now does the job.

New hiring data reported June 24 shows the AI-kills-coders story has it backwards: engineering held up while middle management absorbed the cuts.