Illustration created for Nexaria Digital.
The short answer: big employers are trimming support and office roles while they spend heavily on AI. Barclays plans to cut about 5,000 jobs and Microsoft has offered buyouts to about 60,000 people. Yet global forecasts still expect more jobs to be created than lost by 2030, and the skills to build, sell and own digital work are among those growing. It is a shift, not a guarantee.
Two news reels put this on our radar: Channel 4 News on Barclays and ABC World News Tonight on Microsoft.
What is happening at Barclays and Microsoft?
On 22 October 2026, Barclays said it would cut about 5,000 jobs, roughly 5% of its workforce, by the end of 2026, a total that includes about 1,000 already gone in the first half. Around 60% of the reductions fall in support functions, including developers, and restructuring will cost about £600 million this year. Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan called AI "the icing on the cake, not the cake," while the union Unite accused the bank of using AI to justify cuts.
Days later, Microsoft offered a voluntary buyout to about 60,000 employees, close to a quarter of its workforce, across the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K., with a deadline in early December. The aim is to contain costs while the company pours money into AI and data centres, with 2026 capital spending put at $175–190 billion, depending on the estimate. An earlier voluntary retirement offer this year was taken by about 30% of those eligible.
Is AI really the cause?
Partly, and the data deserves a careful read. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks U.S. job-cut announcements, counted 573,195 announced cuts from January to September 2026, down 39% on a year earlier. Employers cited AI for 120,136 of them, about 21%, the top stated reason so far this year and well above the 54,836 AI-cited cuts in all of 2025. AI led the list five months running from March and peaked in May at 38,579. In September it was cited for just 3,961.
Those are reasons employers give, not proven causes. Critics call some of it "AI-washing": ordinary cost cutting told as a technology story. Total U.S. cuts are falling. What is changing is which jobs are exposed.
Who is feeling it first?
Younger workers in AI-exposed roles. Stanford's Digital Economy Lab found that people aged 22 to 25 in the most exposed occupations saw a 13–16% relative decline in employment, depending on the version of the study, while experienced workers in the same jobs held steady. The drop shows up where AI automates tasks, not where it helps people do more.
Where is new work growing?
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 expects 170 million jobs created and 92 million displaced by 2030, a net gain of 78 million. It expects 39% of workers' core skills to change, and 63% of employers call skills gaps their biggest barrier. AI and data specialists sit near the top of the growth list.
For people who make things, the openings look like this:
- Building digital spaces. Virtual storefronts, galleries and event venues need designers, 3D artists and people to run them. Our guide to building VR and AR event spaces shows what goes into one.
- Owning the output. A creator who owns their work can sell, lease or license it instead of trading hours alone. See seven creator revenue streams and how to price digital assets.
- Working with AI, not against it. The roles holding up are the ones where AI is a tool in a skilled person's hands.
None of this promises income. Creator earnings are uneven, and markets for digital assets rise and fall.
Where does Nexaria fit?
Nexaria gives creators a place to show and sell what they own. You can list a collection on the Nexaria marketplace while the assets stay in your own wallet. For teams that want help building digital spaces or AI tools of their own, Smith App Studio is a good place to start.
Frequently asked questions
How many jobs is Barclays cutting? About 5,000, roughly 5% of its workforce, by the end of 2026.
What did Microsoft offer? A voluntary buyout to about 60,000 employees, with a deadline in early December.
Is AI the main cause of layoffs? It is the top reason U.S. employers gave this year, but stated reasons are not proof, and total cuts are down.
Is creator work a safe alternative? It is growing, not guaranteed. Build skills and own what you make.
