The Upside of Slow AI Adoption: Strategies for Workforce Development and Retention
Key Highlights
- Companies that rushed into AI adoption and reduced headcount often found that artificial intelligence could not fully replace human expertise and oversight.
- Case studies looking at Ford and IBM show how the organizations had to rehire or double down on recruiting their human workforce after realizing the limitations of AI in critical functions like quality control and handling ethical issues.
- Upskilling and redeploying employees, rather than laying them off, serve as strategies for future-proofing the workforce and ensuring the companies retain valuable institutional knowledge.
- Auditing job roles and employee skills will determine the best mix of AI capabilities and human talent to redesign jobs as necessary to maximize the strength of both.
Slowwalking your company’s AI adoption can be a strategic advantage.
Some companies that rushed to embrace efficiencies made through artificial intelligence — and slashed their employee headcount in turn — are learning that AI can’t do the job as well as the humans it replaced.
Some companies have learned this the hard way, leading them to rethink their workforce decisions related to AI. Some rehired employees they previously let go. Others have done a 180-degree turn, committing to hire even more entry-level employees for roles they thought artificial intelligence would make nearly obsolete.
As artificial intelligence offers no shortage of teachable moments, recalibrating what the workforce looks like in a world increasingly employing AI is forcing organizations to balance the strengths of technology with those of humans.
What Ford and IBM learned: AI still needs human expertise
The latest example of this comes from Ford. The motor company reportedly rehired 350 veteran engineers after learning that its AI-automated design and quality control systems weren’t as good as its human workforce.
Once the engineers returned to work, they focused on retraining AI tools and training younger staff. Ford’s quality production improved, leading to lower warranty and recall costs that saved the company “hundreds of millions” of dollars. To boot, the company earned the top spot in the JD Power Initial Quality Survey for mass-market brands this year.
IBM found itself in a similar situation. The company purged at least 200 human resources employees from its payroll, employing AI chatbots to do their jobs. While the bots could handle 94% of requests, 6% included ethical dilemmas AI couldn’t manage.
IBM then rethought its strategy and has since decided to triple its entry-level headcount across all business units and design those roles for an “AI-first workplace.”
people_scenarios_42239312_macrovector_dreamstime
While companies look for efficiencies with AI, some are finding they are laying off the very employees they need to teach and oversee the new intelligence.
Companies that have been slower to adopt AI may prove over the long arc of time that it was a good thing they didn’t rush in, said Alexandra Levit, founder and CEO of Inspiration at Work and a researcher focused on workforce needs in the next three- to five years.
As leaders across industries learn that AI can perform tasks too quickly and without enough oversight (which can skyrocket expenses, especially with agentic systems), those adapting AI at lower speeds can guard against those pitfalls around the corner.
Upskilling employees can outperform AI-related layoffs
Instead of laying off workers, Levit recommends upskilling them for the types of roles the company will need in the future.
While there’s more movement and investment, we’re in a worse situation related to workforce development than we were a few years ago due to an over-reliance on AI to solve our problems, Levit said.
To Do: Audit each position in your company, especially those related to AI.
Ask yourself:
- What is the AI-based component going to be good at?
- What is the human going to be good at?
- How do you divide that up accordingly?
Despite advances to attract and develop skilled tradespeople, workforce development is taking a backseat to the development of AI.
To ensure growth within your company, focus on developing and training humans for the variety of jobs that are, or will be, needed as AI becomes more prominent, she said.
For example, when using an AI-based component in a process traditionally driven by humans, a person is needed to design it, manage it, fix it when it breaks, decide when to deploy it, where to redeploy it and explain how it works to decision-makers, she said. That’s as many as six human jobs, Levit said.
Redesigning jobs matters more than cutting headcount
Before laying employees off (and regretting the decision after the AI fallout), she recommends rethinking the jobs you need done in the era of AI.
“For every single job task where we can potentially insert AI, we need to be rethinking how that task can be redesigned to incorporate both human oversight and what the technology is doing,” Levit said.
It’s a tall order. Recalibrating jobs for an AI world means potentially redesigning every job. Many leaders don’t want to deal with that task and hope they can kick that can down the road a few years, she said.
Don’t fall into that trap. While a heavy lift, reevaluating the needs of each job to recalibrate human talent with AI skill saves the time and energy of laying off workers just to have to hire them back, likely at higher pay, or foot the expense of searching for new employees.
Skills audits help leaders redeploy talent more effectively
In instances where AI can meaningfully reduce headcount, think about how you can upskill or broadly skill your employees with an eye toward internal mobility.
When a department's needs change because a function has been automated, are there other areas of the company that need more people?
To Do:
- Audit and understand your employees' skills. Understanding your individual employees’ skills can help you redeploy them around the company as business needs change.
- Plan ahead. Can you use technologies like talent intelligence to determine where these employees could potentially go?
- Think about how you can train them. Are there ways to invest in training that require fewer resources, such as digital learning?
About the Author
Andrea Zelinski Andrea Zelinski
Contributor
Andrea Zelinski is an award-winning freelance journalist with a passion for translating complex issues, trends and strategies into clear, engaging content to help people improve their businesses and their lives.
She spent 15 years as a political reporter covering state governments in Illinois, Tennessee and Texas, reporting from the halls of state capitols for publications including Texas Monthly, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. In 2021, she shifted her focus to business journalism, joining Travel Weekly as senior cruise editor, where she covered the travel industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
When not reporting, Andrea is probably hiking. Known for embracing ambitious challenges, she hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 2020 and the Pacific Crest Trail in 2025.
Resources
Quiz
Related
ee_teamwork_1_87643478_rawpixelimages_dreamstime
edge_people_workers_96983000_mast3r_dreamstime
clogged_pipes Your Competitive Edge, DeliveredMake smart decisions faster with ExecutiveEDGE’s weekly newsletter. It delivers leadership insights, economic trends, and forward-thinking strategies. Gain perspectives from today’s top business minds and stay informed on innovations shaping tomorrow’s business landscape.
