tech
May 12, 2026
GM just laid off hundreds of IT workers to hire those with stronger AI skills
Some of the positions focus on AI-native development, data engineering and analytics, cloud-based engineering, and agent and model development as well as prompt engineering and new AI workflows.
TL;DR
- GM laid off over 600 IT employees, more than 10% of its salaried IT staff.
- The layoffs are part of a strategic skills swap to bring in employees with AI backgrounds.
- GM is prioritizing AI-native development, data engineering, cloud engineering, agent and model development, and prompt engineering.
- The company is not reducing overall headcount but is reallocating resources to new skill sets.
- This restructuring is seen as a signal of practical enterprise AI adoption, involving rebuilding workforces rather than just adding AI tools.