Apollo’s economist denies AI job losses as CEOs lay off

Apollo Global Management’s chief economist Torsten Sløk says there is “zero evidence of job losses because of AI,” pointing to hiring for AI-skilled roles and citing the ADP National Employment Report. His optimistic view collides with a wave of layoffs where

Apollo Global Management’s chief economist Torsten Sløk is urging people to slow down on their fears.

In a blog post on Friday, Sløk wrote there is “zero evidence of job losses because of AI,” citing the ADP National Employment Report. Instead of dismissing the technology’s impact, he argues the hiring picture is moving the other way: companies are bringing on candidates with AI skills.

He pointed to what he sees as the mechanics behind that shift. “Many firms are hiring AI implementation experts. and the data center buildout is putting upward pressure on salaries for AI experts and on prices of semiconductors. equipment. and energy. ” Sløk said. “The bottom line is that the AI spending boom is stoking both employment and inflation.”.

Sløk has made a similar case before. In an April blog post, he wrote that “cheaper inputs don’t shrink industries. Instead, AI is going to increase both productivity and employment.”

The most recent ADP report he referenced described private companies adding almost 110,000 more people to their payrolls in April.

That message—jobs aren’t disappearing, they’re changing—has resonated with several figures in the AI and finance world. In posts on X over the weekend. Box CEO Aaron Levie. Dell CEO Michael Dell. and White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks all agreed with Sløk’s view. Last week, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon also made a similar argument in a New York Times opinion piece.

But the economic conversation is being driven, too, by something harder to ignore: companies citing AI when cutting headcount.

This year, at least a dozen major companies have pointed to AI as a factor in staff layoffs. In February, Block CEO Jack Dorsey said the company was slashing its workforce from over 10,000 to under 6,000. In a memo shared to X. Dorsey said. “We’re already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using. paired with smaller and flatter teams. are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company.” He added. “i had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out. or be honest about where we are and act on it now.”.

Other companies including Cisco, Atlassian, Cloudflare, Coinbase, IBM, and Snap have also cited AI as a reason for layoffs.

Even some of the industry’s biggest voices have challenged the “AI stole the jobs” narrative. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. described as one of the pillars of the AI industry. criticized companies that blame AI for layoffs. “I think the narrative that connects AI to job loss for many of the CEOs that are doing it is just too lazy. ” Huang told a media outlet in Singapore last week.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called the practice of blaming AI to reduce staff “AI washing.” And in the past. the warnings from AI leaders have made it harder to hear new reassurances. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Altman have both warned for years that AI could upend entire job categories. Amodei, in particular, famously said last year that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.

Sløk’s framing is different: he describes the current employment climate as an example of the “Jevons paradox. ” an economic theory suggesting that when technology increases the efficiency of a resource. more of that resource is consumed. “It is Jevons paradox playing out in real time: cheaper technology is creating more demand and more jobs. ” Sløk wrote.

Not everyone is reading the same future through the same lens. An EY survey of 240 financial service CEOs found that about 60% thought investing in AI would maintain or increase their staff head count in 2026.

Still, the competing stories—companies adding roles and investing heavily in AI skills, alongside firms cutting staff and describing AI as the reason—are now running side by side. One question hangs over both: if AI is stoking new demand, why are so many employers saying it also eliminates work?

Apollo Global Management Torsten Sløk ADP National Employment Report AI jobs layoffs Jevons paradox Nvidia Sam Altman Dario Amodei Block Cisco Cloudflare Coinbase IBM Snap data center buildout semiconductors EY survey