AI Layoff Cartoon: When “Optimisation” Means Overhiring
- Ravi

- Dec 7, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 11

The Scenario: In this AI layoff cartoon, we explore the convenient marriage of a tech buzzword and a management mistake.
After a season of aggressive overhiring, leadership finds itself overleveraged. Instead of owning the strategic misstep, they rebrand the resulting job cuts as "AI-enabled efficiency."
The cartoon captures the irony of a boardroom using 21st-century tech to solve a timeless problem of poor human forecasting.
The Observation: This narrative identifies "Narrative Laundering" in the modern workplace. By labeling a workforce reduction as an "AI layoff," companies shift the blame from the decision-makers to the tools.
At Kaapi with Ravi, we observe that AI didn't overhire—people did. Using technology as a scapegoat for human error doesn't just hurt morale; it avoids the accountability necessary to prevent the same cycle from repeating.
AI layoffs: The only time a CEO treats a computer like a colleague is when they need someone to point the finger at during a town hall.
Explore more from Kaapi with Ravi
Series: Layoff Cartoons
Theme: HR Cartoons
