When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is Automation Killing Compassion at Work?

As layoffs loom large and ChatGPT drafts our emails, one question looms even larger: Is workplace communication losing its humanity?

ZeroBounce surveyed 1,000 U.S. professionals, including employees and managers, to understand just how common AI-assisted emails have become, even during high-stakes moments like performance reviews and terminations.

The results are part cautionary tale, part Black Mirror episode. AI has crept into our inboxes, sometimes invisibly, and many of us aren’t sure who’s writing or feeling on the other end.

Let’s unpack what happens when your job security is just one prompt away from the uncanny valley – that eerie space where something feels almost human, but not quite.

Key takeaways

• Nearly 1 in 4 employees (24%) use AI daily for drafting or editing workplace emails.
• During the last AI outage, 10% of employees reported either delaying an email response (5%) or abandoning it altogether (5%).
• 26% of employees suspect they have received an AI-written performance review, and 16% who have been laid off suspect the termination email was written by AI.
• Over 2 in 5 managers (41%) admit they have used AI to draft or revise a performance review.
• Over 1 in 5 managers (21%) believe their employees use AI better than they do.

How AI is changing the way employees write and feel

• Nearly 1 in 4 employees (24%) use AI daily for drafting or editing workplace emails.
  • Tech workers are the most likely to do so (34%).
• 52% of employees feel AI makes them more confident in workplace writing.
• 35% of employees have used AI to help draft or edit a sensitive workplace communication.
• 21% of employees have caught a coworker using the exact same AI email they have seen before.
• 17% of employees feel more socially anxious writing emails without AI assistance than with it.
  • Healthcare employees are the most likely to feel this way (22%).
  • Millennials are most likely to feel this way (19%), while Gen X is the least likely (14%).
• 14% of employees have copied and pasted a sensitive work message directly from AI without editing it.
• 8% of employees feel incapable of writing emails due to an overreliance on ChatGPT and AI tools.
  • Millennials are the most likely to feel this way (10%).
• During the most recent AI outage, 5% of employees delayed sending an email, and 5% completely abandoned sending it.

The emotional toll of AI-written performance reviews and layoffs

• 26% of employees suspect they have received an AI-written performance review.
  • Tech employees were the most likely (37%).
  • Gen Z was the most likely to suspect this (32%).
• 16% of employees who have been laid off suspect the email was written by AI.
  • Finance employees were the most likely (21%).
  • Gen Z was the most likely to suspect this (24%).
• 19% of employees who suspected receiving an AI-written email for a performance warning or layoff cried after reading it.
  • Millennials were the most likely to (22%).
• While 40% of employees think sensitive emails should never be AI-assisted, 56% believe some AI help can improve clarity when paired with human personalization.

What managers admit about their own AI usage

• Over 2 in 5 managers (41%) admit they have used AI to draft or revise a performance review.
  • Managers working in marketing were the most likely to have done so (57%).
• 17% of managers have used AI to draft or revise a layoff email.
  • Managers working in tech were the most likely to have done so (26%).
• Managers are confident in their AI skills: Only 21% believe their employees know how to use AI better than themselves.
• On average, 16% of the messages managers send are AI-written; 8% of managers use AI to write 50% or more of their messages.

Methodology

For this study, we surveyed 750 employees and 250 managers to find out how AI is changing workplace email communication. Among employees, 3% reported as baby boomers, 26% reported as Gen X, 58% reported as millennials, and 12% reported as Gen Z. Additionally, among employees, 25% reported working in tech, 17% reported working in healthcare, 11% reported working in finance, 8% reported working in education, and 39% reported working in other industries. 

About ZeroBounce

ZeroBounce helps your emails actually make it to your subscribers’ inboxes — not spam folders or “marked as unread forever.” With tools for list cleaning, scoring and sender reputation, we give your messages the best shot at being opened, read, and clicked. Whether your emails are human-written, AI-assisted, or somewhere in between, ZeroBounce makes sure they show up where they matter most. Learn more about our deliverability tools today.

Fair use statement

We encourage you to share these findings for noncommercial purposes. Please include proper attribution with a link back to ZeroBounce if you do.