ai-pocalypse The jury is still out when it comes to determining how much job loss AI is causing. However, we now have another case study. Dow Chemical blames AI automation for its plans to cut 4,500 jobs, about 12.5 percent of its work force.
The thousands of employees losing their jobs are being cut as part of a rhyming companywide initiative called “Transform to Outperform” that aims to radically simplify operations, and modernize its go-to-market playbook in the hopes of achieving $2 billion in EBITDA improvement by 2028.
"The goal of Transform to Outperform is to achieve significant growth and productivity gains that elevate Dow's competitive position," said Karen S. Carter , Dow's chief operating officer, in the press release announcing the initiative. "We are building on the momentum of our current self-help measures – transforming Dow into a company that is more resilient, consistently delivers growth, enables customer success, and delivers greater shareholder value across the cycle."
Dow is one of the biggest enterprises working with Palantir rival C3 AI, which uses a digital twin to map a company, its employees, products, and its processes in a hunt to find efficiencies.
“C3 AI has been pivotal in transforming Dow’s operations from reactive to predictive, optimizing asset performance to drive value. As we scale these solutions across Dow’s portfolio, we anticipate significant benefits,” said Debra Bauler, chief information and digital officer at Dow in a June 2025 press release. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with C3 AI as we advance a world-class predictive maintenance program and uncover further opportunities to enhance efficiency, reliability, and productivity throughout our operations.”
The two companies partnered last year on a predictive maintenance solution for the petrochemical industry through Dow’s subsidiary Univation Technologies, which was allowed to license and install C3 AI products.
- AI and automation could erase 10.4 million US roles by 2030
- AI has had zero effect on jobs so far, says Yale study
- AI robs jobs from recent college grads, but isn't hurting wages, Stanford study says
- Female-dominated careers among most exposed to AI disruption
“Our work with Dow sets the standard for how industrial companies can use AI to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and optimize performance,” said Ed Abbo, Chief Technology Officer, C3 AI in the same June press release. “And this collaboration with Univation will accelerate adoption of this proven, domain-specific AI application across the broader petrochemical industry and support modernization across the market by delivering real, measurable benefits of AI at scale.”
El Reg asked Dow spokesperson to name the processes, software, and technologies that Dow plans to use to replace its employees, but the chemical giant didn't address the question.
“Through this work, we are leveraging best‑in‑class practices from across industries and high‑impact technologies, such as automation and AI, as we radically simplify our operating model and modernize how we serve our customers,” the spokesperson told The Register.
Dow’s employee numbers have held steady to around 36,000 since 2019. While the company did hire about 2,000 new employees between 2022 and 2023, growing to 37,800, by last year that number was back down to 36,000, according to annual reports and proxy filings.
Dow expects to spend $1.5 billion in one-time costs related to the job cuts with $600 million to $800 million of that going to severance for those let go, or between $133,333 and $177,777 per employee. ®
