90% of executives say AI hasn't boosted productivity. They're still cutting jobs anyway.

Your AI investment isn't paying off. The executives know it. They just don't care.

An Atlanta Federal Reserve study found 90% of executives believe AI hasn't boosted productivity at their companies. The workforce data backs this up: 89% of firms report zero productivity impact from AI over the last three years.

Meanwhile, companies keep cutting jobs and calling it AI strategy.

Here's the self-defeating loop nobody in the boardroom wants to hear.

Researchers analyzed millions of Glassdoor reviews. Employee sentiment toward AI is overwhelmingly negative. Job security fears dominate. The moment a company announces AI-driven layoffs, AI sentiment among remaining employees plummets.

That hostility isn't just noise. It's a productivity destroyer.

The study found a strong association between negative employee AI sentiment and lower firm productivity. Workers asked to adopt the same technology that eliminated their colleagues' jobs don't become 10% more efficient. They become 10% more resentful.

Managers see the opposite picture on earnings calls. Management AI sentiment is consistently optimistic. That optimism has zero relationship to actual productivity outcomes.

The disconnect is brutal: companies are spending billions on AI, getting no measurable productivity return, cutting jobs to show ROI, and the cuts are destroying the workforce engagement needed to actually realize that ROI.

Goldman Sachs data shows call center employment is 39% below trend in the US. Software publishing, management consulting, and advertising are all below historical norms. Entry-level workers are hardest hit across every developed economy.

The executives aren't delusional. They're trapped. Once you announce AI-driven cuts, you need to show results. But the cuts themselves make results less likely.

Audit your AI workforce strategy today. If your business case for AI depends on headcount reduction, your employees already know. And their resentment will cost you more than the savings ever return.