Layoffs may be rising, but people are also getting rehired more often as part of a "layoff boomerang" trend, an analysis by workplace platform Visier finds.

Why it matters: AI may not be the headcount reducer that it's cracked up to be, at least not yet.

What they're saying: "The idea that now AI is coming and replacing absolutely every job is still really not proven," says Andrea Derler, a principal at Visier, adding that AI can be a "very convenient explanation for layoffs."

• Rehiring rates are increasing even amid the rollout of AI-powered agents and digital workers.

By the numbers: Visier examined its data that covers 2.4 million employees at 142 companies around the world. In an analysis shared exclusively with Axios, it found about 5.3% of laid-off employees end up being rehired by their former employer.

• While that rate has been relatively stable since 2018, it has ticked up, Derler says. It's hard to tell what is driving the recent uptick, given that the data is backward looking, she notes.
• Still, rehiring indicates a "larger planning problem" for executives, she adds.

Between the lines: "Many very senior executives haven't had time" to dig into what can really be done by AI, Derler says, "and how much that's going to cost versus how many tasks and jobs cannot be replaced."

• CEOs should think through which roles can truly be replaced by AI, the costs of installing AI infrastructure to displace those workers, then weigh the benefits and risks of letting "people and their skills" go in favor of AI infrastructure, she says.

Zoom out: This mirrors takeaways from a recent MIT study that indicated 95% of organizations are finding no return on their AI investment.

• When it comes to AI investment, "maybe all this money is not actually being spent all that wisely," Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, tells Axios.

Zoom in: "Layoffs are never free," Derler says, and companies should consider the costs.

• For every $1 a firm saves from layoffs, it spends $1.27 when accounting for often overlooked costs like unemployment insurance, severance packages and more, according to data from software platform Orgvue.

Reality check: Derler concedes that these are "really complex" problems that executives need to figure out quickly.

The bottom line: As news of headcount reductions rattle workers and please some investors, this data indicates an offer to come back to the office may be more likely as companies struggle with AI adoption.

Wall Street obsesses over how much cash Big Tech has on hand, but Berkshire Hathaway dwarfs them all. The company now holds more cash on its balance sheet than the top three technology firms combined.

Why it matters: Incoming CEO Greg Abel will have serious Monopoly money to deploy when he takes the reins of Berkshire from Warren Buffett in 2026.

The big picture: Berkshire hit a record $382 billion cash hoard in the third quarter.

• Big Tech is going the other way, taking on debt to fund the biggest capital spending cycle in decades, much of it tied to AI.
• The four biggest hyperscalers are set to spend half a trillion dollars on building out AI infrastructure this year alone.

What they're saying: Buffett, current Berkshire CEO, is "obviously put off by current market valuations," says Jonathan Owen, who manages a $30 billion investment grade portfolio for Twenty Four Asset Management.

• At the same time, "there has been a fairly reasonable push back on the capex plans for AI," Owen notes.

State of play: Berkshire is not the only corporate behemoth sitting on a mountain of cash, but others are deploying that cash differently.

• Corporate buybacks, when companies purchase their own shares, hit a record high in the first half of the year.
• For the fifth consecutive quarter, Berkshire did not use cash to buy back any of its own shares. "If they're not buying back their shares, why should you?" analyst Cathy Seifert told Bloomberg News.

The bottom line: In a market obsessed with who spends the most, Berkshire's real edge may be that it doesn't have to.

The Magnificent 7 keeps rallying, with a 5% jump over the past month and a recent surge led by back-to-back record highs for Amazon and a record price for Nvidia that bought it to a $5 trillion market cap.

Why it matters: It's still hard to beat the seven tech stocks driving the market.

• The outperformance of these big names, despite mounting fears of an AI bubble, underscores that while investors may be uneasy about the heavy market concentration in tech, they can't afford to stray too far from it.