Careerminds: Third of AI Layoffs Reversed as 'Boomerang' Spreads

The Washington Post reports that a third of companies that laid off workers citing AI have already rehired 25% to 50% of those roles, according to a Careerminds survey. Another 35.6% of surveyed firms rehired more than half.

The pattern now has a name. "These reversals have acquired a nickname: the 'AI boomerang.'"

Microsoft, Barclays Bank and supermarket chain Kroger are among the latest entries on the Post's roster of AI-cited cutters this year. Microsoft is offering a voluntary exit package to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce. Kroger plans to cut 3,000 corporate employees over three years. Barclays is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce.

The reasons given for walking back the cuts are consistent. "The most frequently cited reasons for restoring dropped jobs included the technology needing more human oversight than anticipated and its inability to replicate institutional knowledge," the Post writes. Ford is the current case study: it has rehired and promoted more than 350 experienced engineers after an automation push produced quality problems its models could not fix.

Forecasts line up with the hiring data. Gartner expects 30% of workers displaced by AI to be rehired by 2029, with the enterprise figure closer to 40%. Forrester reports that 55% of employers regret AI-attributed layoffs and expects half of those cuts to be reversed.

The Post itself is in the dataset. After cutting more than 300 journalists in February 2026, roughly a third of its 800-person newsroom, the paper quietly contacted at least 10 of them about returning in new roles. Three were rehired full-time. The story extends a run of AI-layoff coverage on our jobs tracker, with 107 stories logged there in the last 90 days.