Companies around the world now say AI is a reason to cut jobs.

Microsoft, Barclays Bank and Kroger are some of them.

They announced job cuts linked to AI this year.

Some cuts remove jobs that are not needed.

Some cuts free up money to invest in AI.

But some companies later find that AI tools do not work as expected.

Then they hire back the workers they let go.

This happens often.

It has a nickname: the "AI boomerang."

Robert Half is a recruitment firm.

It said hiring managers in finance, marketing, law and health cut jobs mainly because of AI.

Then they hired again for similar roles.

The top reason was that AI needed more human oversight than expected.

Another reason was that AI could not copy institutional knowledge.

Bill Driscoll is a senior district president at Robert Half.

He said AI cannot copy critical thinking, collaboration, creativity or institutional knowledge.

Klarna started recruiting human customer service workers again last year.

Its CEO is Sebastian Siemiatkowski.

He told Bloomberg News that using an AI chatbot to cut costs had gone too far.

In June, Ford said it hired or promoted 350 veteran engineers.

This happened after its AI quality-control tools did not perform well.

Lucy Beaumont is a global senior vice president at SHL.

She said companies do not always announce these U-turns.

She said they may quietly admit they were not ready.

Experts say companies often forget the hidden work employees do.

This work is beyond their job descriptions.

Betsy Summers is from Forrester.

She said this work includes sensing emotions and building team trust.

Brooks Holtom is a professor at Georgetown University.

He said organizations do not spend enough time on workflows.

They do not study where humans add value.

He said AI struggles to combine creativity with following established rules.

Holtom gave advice to workers.

He said they should focus on skills that work with AI.

These include emotional intelligence and good judgment.

He said they should explain their human value.

They should understand how to be different from machines.

Beaumont said empathy is still a human quality.

Technology has not fully mastered it.

She said many people do not want to return to a company.

That company laid them off over AI.

She said trust is gone.

Beaumont said returning workers ask for more money.

They also ask for clarity on AI and future staffing.

Holtom suggested asking for a one-year contract that can be renewed.

He said it should have a buyout clause.

Summers said work has a human purpose.

It is more than making value for shareholders.