Companies Are Quietly Rehiring the Workers They Replaced With AI

Following the recent MIT study that showed just 5% of companies that go all-in on AI demonstrate any kind of profitable return, new data suggests that many companies are actually rehiring some of the workers they let go in favor of AI.

People analytics firm Visier has been tracking employment and hiring data for several years and said in its 2025 report that typically, 5.3% of terminated employees are re-hired by their former employers. However, a recent uptick suggests that more workers are being rehired at the end of 2025 than any other time since 2018.

Visier's head of research and value, Andrea Derler, told Axios that this was a clear indicator of AI-driven hiring and firing practices.

"The idea that now AI is coming and replacing absolutely every job is still really not proven," she said.

In fact, this rehiring shows a misguided approach to hiring; according ...