The Hidden Talent Crisis: Skill Gaps Costing Jobs in the AI Era
In today’s rapidly changing job market, thousands of professionals are being let go even though hiring managers continue to post new job openings. This paradox, layoffs amid talent shortages, has sparked an important conversation about evolving skill needs, workforce readiness, and the growing role of AI in shaping careers.
To understand what’s really driving this shift, we spoke with the founder of Evaluate Ai, Mr, Akash Saxena, an AI hiring platform, about what’s changing, why traditional approaches are falling short, and how companies and professionals can stay future-ready.
Urvee: Let’s start with the big news: TCS laying off 12,000 people. What does this say about the current IT talent landscape in India?
Akash: Yes, this kind of situation has been brewing for a while. IBM, for example, cut 8,000 employees but posted 6,000 jobs. It might seem contradictory, but it's logical. AI is reducing the workload previously done by multiple people, whether it's writing copies, customer support, HR, or coding. AI even helps with decision-making tasks now.
Because of this, the manpower needed naturally decreases. But here’s the important part: traditional skills like being good at customer interaction or coding are still critical. However, no matter how good you are, you can’t outperform generative AI tools if you don’t adapt.
So, employees now must combine their core skills with Gen AI capabilities. When companies say they want different skills, they mean it. You need a strong foundation in your domain, plus familiarity with AI tools.
Also, broader socio-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, like a possible recession, influence these decisions. CEOs have access to more insights and data about future changes and act proactively.
Urvee: It is said that layoffs are due to skill mismatch. Shouldn’t learning and development (L&D) address this?
Akash: It depends on where you start. There are basically two groups of employees:
Veteran employees with solid basics but resistant to change.
Newer employees who understand Gen AI but lack foundational skills.
Both risk becoming redundant if they don’t bridge the gap. Companies want adaptable people who already use Gen AI, not those stuck resisting change. And it is also important that your foundational knowledge is strong.
Old L&D models consist of long training sessions undertaken once a quarter. These aren’t enough. We need continuous, progressive upskilling to keep pace with the changes.
Urvee: How do you think companies should respond to this shift?
Akash: Companies must anticipate shifts and invest in ongoing upskilling. Use AI tools to evaluate skills regularly and offer personalised learning.
AI adoption should go beyond hiring, to marketing, customer support, operations, helping automate routine tasks and increase efficiency.
In hiring, AI can screen resumes and conduct realistic interviews, saving time and reducing bias.
Urvee: Regarding hiring, how should companies adapt their hiring techniques or strategies to avoid future layoffs?
Akash: Today, when companies post a job opening on job boards or social media platforms, they receive an overwhelming number of applicants. So today, lack of applicants is not the problem. But manually screening thousands of resumes or calling hundreds of candidates daily is impossible.
Here is where AI plays a major role in hiring. It can screen through thousands of resumes like a human. For e.g., our AI recruitment platform Evaluate Ai reads resumes like a human, distinguishing nuanced roles. It can conduct AI-powered screening calls that mimic real HR conversations, handle objections, and interview candidates objectively. It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between an actual human screening call and an AI-powered screening call.
So if you had a thousand applicants, for the first round of resume parsing, you can use Agentic Ai Phone calls and filter up to 50% of candidates. For the second round, with the help of AI interviews, you can filter the next 30-40% of candidates. Finally, you will be left with 10-15% of candidates; these are the top candidates. This is how AI recruitment tools help recruiters save time and improve quality.
And the best part is that it not only filters out top candidates, but it can do this round the clock while reducing bias at the same time.
Urvee: Right now, you just mentioned bias in hiring. People worry that AI hiring models are biased. How does Evaluate Ai reduce bias?
Akash: Evaluate Ai trains on millions of real interviews across cultures, roles, and companies. We've conducted more than 300,000 interviews over the last six to seven months, and more are being added every day as we speak. The model self-trains based on recruiter feedback from diverse sources, reducing bias over time.
Since it relies on real human data, not fabricated or limited datasets, it nullifies biases. Unlike humans, AI is consistent, objective, and unbiased.
Urvee: What advice do you have for HR leaders facing these layoffs?
Akash: First, HRs should question every hiring request. Understand its long-term business purpose before acting.
Second, be agile with upskilling. Use AI platforms like Evaluate Ai for continuous, personalised training rather than outdated one-time courses. AI recruitment platforms such as Evaluate Ai can help you measure your team's AI capabilities.
Finally, don’t fear AI. It enhances your efficiency, helps you make better decisions faster, and is essential for survival in this fast-evolving environment.
Urvee: How does Evaluate Ai help companies measure and improve their AI readiness?
Akash: Our platform runs realistic role-based simulations. For example, coders can be evaluated on how they can use an AI coder, such as Copilot and debug the code generated by the AI coder. Customer support teams can train through AI-driven simulated calls that mimic real client interactions.
These ongoing short evaluations provide personalised learning paths and detailed reports. These methods are scalable and objective in ways manual training can’t match.
Urvee: Could earlier adoption of AI have prevented layoffs like TCS’s?
Yes, because using AI recruitment platforms can help you hire the right people based on their skills.
And no, because hiring is just one side of the coin. Preventing layoffs also requires progressive upskilling that is regular, rather than static training. Companies combining smart hiring with continuous AI-enabled learning can minimise skill gaps and reduce workforce disruptions.
Urvee: What’s the key takeaway for HR teams?
Akash: Don’t see AI as a threat. It’s here to empower you, improve your work, and open new opportunities. Embrace it, upskill regularly, and leverage tools like Evaluate Ai to build a future-ready workforce. This is how you survive and thrive in the AI era.
The layoffs at top organisations highlight the urgent need for workforce transformation. Evaluate Ai’s AI recruitment platform helps organisations identify skill gaps, reduce bias, and prepare employees for the future of work, making it an indispensable partner in navigating this shift.
To explore how Evaluate Ai can future-proof your hiring and upskilling strategy, Book a Demo Today
