AI won't replace the workforce. It will reshape it.

Microsoft, Barclays and Kroger are among the latest big names to announce job cuts linked to artificial intelligence. In the US alone, employers named AI as a reason for more than 120,000 announced job cuts between January and September 2026. That's roughly one in every five.

South Africa's unemployment rate sits at 33.6%. For young people it's 47.4%. In our country, a lost job is not easily replaced. So yes, it's normal to feel uneasy. Fear is understandable, but it is a terrible career strategy.

What the headlines really tell us

Look closer and the story changes. Many "AI layoffs" are about cost-cutting and future bets. A New York Fed survey found that only 4% of AI-using service firms had actually let people go because of AI. What AI replaces first is tasks, not whole jobs. The World Economic Forum estimates that out of every 100 workers, 59 will need reskilling by 2030, and 11 are unlikely to get it. So, the future workforce won't be defined by who AI replaces, but by who keeps growing. The real risk isn't AI. It's being one of the 11.

At 1Nebula, reinvention is part of our DNA

We've been here before. Not with AI, but with change that rewrote how our industry works.

1Nebula started in 1997 as an independent advisor, helping South African businesses get better returns from their telecoms and IT investments. Our OneView platform went on to win a Frost & Sullivan award for product leadership in 2016. Today we're a Microsoft solutions partner and a SaaS and managed services company, helping clients take control of their cloud spend with OneView Cloud.

Every one of those shifts asked our people to learn something new. That's the part of our story we're most proud of. Technology changed, and our N48Xers changed with it.

Our whole business is built on one idea: helping clients get real value from technology. AI asks us to do the same for our own people: to build a workforce that's ready for what comes next.

Five ways we're building tomorrow's N48Xers

• Sharing what we build. Our teams are already creating their own AI-powered tools. We're gathering them in one internal catalogue, so a good idea in one team can help every team.
• Growing our managers and leaders. Through our Xponentia programme and succession planning, we're preparing people to lead teams through change and to step into tomorrow's key roles.
• Listening every week by having our weekly check-ins. See what’s working and what is not.
• Backing certifications. We support our people to write recognised industry certifications, so new skills come with proof.

What we ask of every N48Xer

Be curious. Try the tools. Share what works, and what doesn't. Nobody is expected to have this figured out. Everybody is expected to keep learning.

Building the future workforce is everyone's job

• Employees: stay curious. Use AI on your real work every day, check what it gives you, and keep sharpening the human skills it can't replace: judgement, communication and trust.
• Leaders: redesign before you reduce. Rethink roles before cutting them, make time for learning inside the working week, and set clear guardrails on client data and POPIA.
• HR: build skills, not just structures. Know the skills you have and the ones you'll need, create paths for people to move internally, and make it safe to learn. Nobody grows while they're afraid.