A Tale of Two Anxieties
In a surprising twist, the professionals building the future of artificial intelligence are among the most concerned about their own job security. A July 2026 survey of 1,552 India-based professionals by the anonymous networking platform Blind revealed
a stark contrast in workplace anxiety. It found that 66% of employees in AI and machine learning roles expect a layoff or significant headcount reduction within their teams in the near future. This places them among the most concerned groups in the tech workforce, second only to sales and marketing professionals (68%). The findings challenge the widespread belief that an AI-focused role is a guaranteed safe haven in a turbulent job market. Instead, it appears the creators of these powerful new tools feel just as exposed to economic pressures and restructuring as anyone else.
The Engineer's Paradox
Conversely, the survey highlighted a much lower level of anxiety among traditional engineering professionals. For years, engineers have been told that AI-powered tools for coding and design could automate their roles out of existence. However, the data shows they feel comparatively secure. Only 24% of engineers described a layoff in their team as 'very likely,' the lowest figure among all surveyed functions. While 58% of engineers still fell into the survey's broad 'at-risk' category, this was below the overall average and significantly lower than their AI counterparts. This suggests that while engineers see AI as a tool that is changing their work, they don't yet see it as an existential threat to their careers. They perceive themselves as being in a stronger position than those working directly on the volatile frontier of AI product development.
Why the Anxious AI Expert?
The high anxiety among AI professionals seems counterintuitive given the industry's massive investment in the technology. So why are they so worried? The reasons are multifaceted. The field is moving at an extreme pace, creating a high-pressure environment and constant need to keep skills current. Furthermore, as companies pour money into AI initiatives, they are also under immense pressure to show a return on investment. When those returns don't materialize quickly, the teams working on these experimental and costly projects can become targets for restructuring. The survey shows AI teams feel almost as vulnerable to job cuts as functions like sales and product design, which are often the first to be impacted during cost-cutting drives.
A Wider Trend of Tech Burnout
This anxiety exists within a broader context of rising stress across the tech industry. Separate studies show that burnout is a significant issue, jumping from 44.7% to 55.7% among tech workers in one year, according to a recent global survey. The dominant fear isn't necessarily being replaced by AI, but rather the expectation to do more work for the same pay at an unsustainable pace. Another study found that heavy users of AI actually report higher levels of burnout than non-users, as the technology often adds to their scope of work rather than reducing it. For India's 5.4 million-strong tech workforce, these global trends are hitting home, creating a complicated emotional landscape where innovation and insecurity go hand in hand.
Implications for India's Workforce
This divergence in anxiety between AI and engineering roles offers a crucial insight for employers and employees across India. It highlights that job security is no longer about being in the 'hottest' field, but about adaptability and tangible value. For engineers, the challenge is not avoiding AI, but integrating it to enhance their core skills in problem-solving and system design. For AI professionals, the boom comes with the volatility of a new frontier. For companies, managing these different anxieties is key to retaining talent. They must address the burnout from the relentless pace of AI development while providing clear paths for traditional engineers to evolve alongside the technology.
