The Surprising Anxiety of AI Experts
A July 2026 survey of Indian professionals delivered a counterintuitive headline finding: the very people building the AI revolution are worried about their job security. The survey, conducted by the anonymous professional networking platform Blind, polled
1,552 India-based professionals and found that 66% of those in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) roles expect layoffs or significant headcount reductions in their teams within the next three to six months. This figure is startling because it places AI/ML specialists among the most anxious groups in the tech industry, second only to sales and marketing professionals (68%) and just ahead of product and design teams (65%). The results directly challenge the widely held assumption that specializing in AI offers a shield against the job market disruption that the technology itself is causing.
A Tale of Different Tech Roles
The survey paints a picture of uneven confidence across the technology landscape. While AI and ML professionals expressed high levels of concern, traditional engineering roles appeared comparatively secure. Only 24% of engineers described a layoff in their team as "very likely," the lowest proportion of any function surveyed. Overall, the "at-risk" sentiment among engineers was 58%, which is below the survey's average. Data and analytics professionals were even more optimistic, with just 51% considering their teams at risk of cuts. Around 40% of data and analytics workers said layoffs were unlikely, the highest share of confidence recorded among all groups. This suggests a perception within the industry that while AI may be augmenting certain tasks, the core roles of engineering and data analysis remain robust for now.
Reading the 'Quiet Signals'
The anxiety isn't necessarily being driven by official company announcements of impending layoffs. Instead, employees are interpreting indirect signs as indicators of workforce cuts. According to the Blind survey, only 9% of respondents who felt at risk pointed to formal layoff announcements as the primary reason for their concern. The most cited warning signs were hiring freezes (27%) and reductions in budgets or headcount targets (24%). Other signals included the cancellation or de-prioritization of projects and an increasing use of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs). This indicates that employees are becoming more attuned to the subtle shifts in corporate strategy and resource allocation as predictors of job security.
The Bigger Picture: Reskilling Over Redundancy
While the Blind survey highlights a pocket of deep anxiety, other reports offer a more nuanced view of AI's impact on the Indian job market. An August 2026 report from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSC) found that a significant portion of entities (32%) believe AI will primarily drive job transformation and reskilling rather than outright job losses. Another 10% of firms in that survey expect AI to create net new roles. This aligns with earlier findings from the Economic Survey 2025-26, which noted that AI's employment impact will depend more on how quickly workers and firms adapt than on initial job displacement. Furthermore, a separate Nomura report found that AI-related hiring in India had recently outpaced AI-related layoffs by a significant margin. This suggests that while some roles may be at risk, the overall trend is one of evolution and growth, placing a massive premium on continuous learning and adaptation for the entire workforce.
