Law firm lays off hundreds of employees as AI takes over more work
Baker McKenzie has begun cutting hundreds of assistant roles around the world as artificial intelligence begins to take over more routine work inside the global law firm.
A quiet but important change is underway inside one of the world’s largest law firms. Baker McKenzie has begun laying off a large number of employees across its global business services teams. Bloomberg, citing sources at legal industry publication RollOnFriday, reported that the company is cutting roles at several locations, including London, Belfast and offshore centres. The scale of the move is significant as less than 10 per cent of Baker McKenzie’s worldwide support workforce has been made redundant, which means around 600 to 1,000 employees. The cut is not limited to any one department. The report suggests that roles in information, research, marketing and secretarial teams have been affected.
Baker McKenzie layoffs: Law firm explains reason for job cuts
Baker McKenzie described the layoffs as part of a broader restructuring rather than a sudden cost-cutting exercise. A spokesperson said the firm recently conducted a careful review of its business professional functions to “position the firm for continued growth and remain agile in a rapidly evolving business context”.
The company said that review includes rethinking how work is done, including greater use of AI. The aim was to introduce efficiencies while investing more in roles that directly support customer needs. In simple terms, tasks that can now be handled faster or more cheaply by AI tools are being reduced, while others are being replaced or phased out.
The company has also been careful to point out that it is not acting alone. Other major law firms have already taken similar steps. In recent months, Clifford Chance cut about 10 percent of its UK business services staff, Irwin Mitchell eliminated its litigation paralegal roles, and Freshfields laid off paralegals last year, citing AI.
Baker McKenzie has indicated that this process is not over. Although some roles may disappear entirely, others are expected to evolve as AI becomes more deeply embedded in daily tasks. “We have not taken these proposed changes lightly,” the spokesperson said, adding that affected employees will be supported through the changes.
AI is eating humans’ jobs and it’s no longer a joke
The Baker McKenzie development reflects a larger trend underway across a variety of industries. Technology companies, once seen as the biggest job creators of the digital age, are cutting their workforces even as they improve automation. For example, Amazon recently laid off about 16,000 employees globally as part of an ongoing effort to simplify teams and reduce layers of management.
While Amazon has said the cuts are primarily about efficiency rather than short-term financial pressure, its leadership has been clear about the long-term impact of AI. CEO Andy Jassy previously told employees that advances in AI would eventually allow the company to operate with fewer corporate employees.
AI ecosystem officials have been even more direct. In January 2026, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said that AI could replace most software coding tasks within six to twelve months. He explained that his company’s engineers already rely heavily on AI models to generate code, with humans focusing more on review and improvement than writing from scratch.
At the same World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, other leaders presented a mixed picture of the future of work. Nvidia’s CEO suggested that demand for AI data centers could lead to six-figure salaries in trades like plumbing, electrical work and construction. Palantir CEO Alex Karp argued that AI-powered productivity could reduce the need for mass immigration by creating enough jobs for local workers with vocational training.
Elon Musk went even further, saying that AI and robots could eventually replace all jobs, making work optional rather than essential.
