Companies Use AI to Draft Reviews Amid Layoff Concerns

JPMorgan Chase, Disney and Meta are using AI to draft performance reviews, while surveyed people worry it could help select employees for layoffs.

By Career Ahead AI · United States — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

AI is moving into performance reviews

JPMorgan Chase, Disney and Meta are enlisting AI to draft self-assessments and performance reviews. The technology is being used to prepare documents that employees and companies use in performance-review processes. That puts AI inside a routine workplace system, even as concern about its possible role in layoff decisions remains a separate issue.^¹

The corporate push followed ChatGPT’s debut in 2022. Artificial intelligence became a top corporate priority across the United States, followed by a spending surge in 2023 and 2024. Those dates mark a quick shift from the launch of a widely used AI product to increased corporate investment; the available evidence describes the spending pattern, rather than specifying how much companies spent.^²

IBM, Klarna and Duolingo have continued using AI, while executives have tied further expansion to measurable productivity or revenue targets. In practice, that links decisions about expanding AI use to observable results: companies look to productivity gains or revenue measures, rather than treating adoption alone as the stated goal. The evidence does not give target levels or say that every use of AI has met them.^²

The corporate push followed ChatGPT’s debut in 2022.

Surveyed respondents fear AI in layoff selection

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More than two-thirds of surveyed people said they were worried their company would deploy AI to select employees for layoffs. Among more than four hundred eighty respondents, 37% said they were very concerned about that possibility. The figures measure reported concern, not confirmed use: they describe what respondents fear companies might do, rather than how many employers use AI to decide whom to lay off.^¹

Linh Doan, an HR leader at Meta, said: “AI did not select anyone for termination. AI did not assist anyone in making selection decisions.” A former Meta employee had received a rare equity award for her performance, which had never fallen below an “exceeds expectations” rating. Those facts show a sharp contrast between public concern about selection and one employee’s strong performance record; they do not establish that AI made a termination decision.^¹

Layoff selection has also relied on managerial judgment. Ford conducted layoffs in the 1970s by asking supervisors which employees were most productive or spent more hours in the office. Productivity and time in the office were the criteria supervisors were asked to weigh. The example shows that employers have used human assessments to compare employees during cuts; it does not establish that older methods were more accurate or fair than algorithmic ones.^¹

Companies cite different reasons for cutting roles

Meta cut six hundred jobs amid its AI expansion push. Target announced plans to cut about one thousand corporate positions and eliminate eight hundred open roles. Amazon announced a cut of fourteen thousand corporate jobs as part of an internal restructuring. The figures describe separate workforce actions; they do not show that AI selected the affected employees or that all three companies gave the same reason for their cuts.^²³

UPS disclosed in a regulatory filing that it laid off about forty-eight thousand workers this year. General Motors warned staff of indefinite cuts to hundreds of roles in the near future as it adjusted to slowing demand for electric vehicles. The stated reasons differ: Amazon linked its cuts to restructuring, while General Motors tied its warning to demand for electric vehicles. The figures and warning concern separate companies and workforce changes.^²³

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Garrett White, CEO of Wake Up Warrior, said he had cut entire copywriting divisions and replaced about half of his coding staff. A separate account describes AI’s short-term effects as decimating white-collar information work and reducing entry-level opportunities for young people. These examples point to changes in the work itself as well as anxiety about who gets selected in a layoff: some employers describe replacing teams or roles, while the survey measures concern about selection decisions.^¹³

The figures describe separate workforce actions; they do not show that AI selected the affected employees or that all three companies gave the same reason for their cuts.²³

Review AI Drafts, Track Your Record

When your employer uses AI to draft performance reviews, your written record becomes more important than ever. Since major companies like JPMorgan Chase, Disney, and Meta already use AI for self-assessments, you should prepare your own evidence of achievements and contributions before review season. A former Meta employee's strong record, including a rare equity award and never falling below an 'exceeds expectations' rating, shows how a documented history can stand out regardless of the drafting tool.^¹²

Separate the drafting of reviews from layoff decisions. While more than two-thirds of surveyed people worry AI could select employees for layoffs, Meta's HR leader states AI did not assist in any selection decisions. However, with Meta cutting 600 jobs, Target cutting 1,000 corporate positions, and Amazon cutting 14,000 corporate jobs, you should track your measurable contributions and ask for specific performance criteria. This helps you argue your value if your company reduces roles.^¹³