Companies That Cut People for AI Are Finding Out What Those People Actually Did
AI became the top reason U.S. employers gave for job cuts this year, and now some are hiring back. Meanwhile, trades employers short on workers are winning people over with basics like clean, working restrooms, Illinois is writing that into law, and short training programs just became eligible for Pell Grants.
- 40% Share of U.S. job cuts in May blamed on AI, a record (Challenger)
- 2.3M Technician openings U.S. employers may need to fill, 2025–2030
- 8–15 wks Training programs now eligible for Workforce Pell Grants
Global
Bunzl Buys Another UK Cleaning Supply Distributor
Bunzl, one of the world’s largest distributors of cleaning and hygiene supplies, bought Wessex Cleaning Equipment and Janitorial Supplies of Southampton on October 29. Wessex had £11 million in revenue in its last fiscal year, and Bunzl did not disclose the price. Bunzl said the deal strengthens its UK cleaning and hygiene business and adds cleaning equipment sales and hire. It follows Bunzl’s October 8 purchase of Blueleaf Care, a £58 million UK supplier to care homes. The distributors that supply your crews keep consolidating, a few small regional players at a time.
National
AI Became the Top Reason for Layoffs. Now Some Companies Are Rehiring.
Employers named AI as the reason for 38,579 announced job cuts in May, about 40% of the month’s total and a record, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. By the end of May, AI had been cited in 87,714 cuts this year, already more than all of 2025. Now CNBC reports a countertrend experts call “AI rebounding”: some companies that cut roles for AI are bringing people back because the technology could not cover the full job. Analysts say the missing piece is the invisible work people do beyond their job descriptions, like judgment, relationships and know-how. Most rehiring examples so far are office roles such as customer service, HR and IT.
State Spotlight
Illinois Will Require Restrooms, Supplies and Lactation Space for Women on Construction Sites
Starting in January, Illinois construction employers must provide accommodations for workers who menstruate or are nursing, including free menstrual products in designated restrooms and lactation space on request (Public Act 104-0850). On sites shared by several employers, each one is responsible for its own workers. Illinois is the second state with this kind of rule; Washington adopted one in 2024. The point is simple: workers stay where the basics are taken care of. That includes the restrooms and break areas cleaning crews maintain.
Industry
The Trades Are Recruiting Women With Something Cleaning Crews Provide
The Wall Street Journal reports that trades employers short on workers are hiring more women and working to keep them. Turner Construction’s pitch includes heated and cooled restrooms with running water on job sites and regularly cleaned break rooms. Skanska now makes sure women get gloves, helmets and boots that actually fit. Universal Technical Institute says its students are now 8% women, four times the share five years ago, and Mortenson says women are more than 10% of its skilled workforce, up from 7% a decade ago. “You can get people all day, but how do you keep them here?” Skanska’s Ayesha Adams told the Journal. Our read, not the sources’: clean, working facilities are a recruiting tool now, and the people who maintain them are part of how other industries keep their workers.
Construction & Economy
Costs Up Nearly 12%, and Employers Still Can’t Find Technicians
Prices for materials and services used in new nonresidential construction rose 11.9% from September 2025 to September 2026, the biggest annual jump in four years, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Construction unemployment fell to 3.5% in September. On the factory side, a September Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute study estimates employers may need to fill 2.3 million technician openings in manufacturing and related fields from 2025 to 2030, with nearly 2 million technicians in other industries whose skills could transfer. Manufacturing job openings hit 580,000 in July, per federal data. Several of these figures are older than a week and are dated.
Alert
Workforce Pell Grants now cover training programs of 8 to under 15 weeks (150–599 clock hours) once your state approves them. Ask your local community college whether a short custodial, facilities or maintenance program could qualify.
The Takeaway
Invisible isn’t the same as unimportant. Companies that tried to replace people are rediscovering the judgment and know-how those people carried. Employers in the trades are learning that keeping workers starts with clean, decent facilities. Both lessons point back to the people behind the spaces. The businesses that will do best are the ones that see that work, train for it and keep it.