Eric Schmidt says AI could cut 20% of jobs at large companies, starting with ‘glue people’

Eric Schmidt ran Google as CEO for nearly a decade. By his own account, a huge chunk of that time went to meetings rather than to inventing the next Gmail. Now he thinks artificial intelligence could erase much of that work. He also thinks it could erase the jobs of many people who do it. Speaking on the “In Good Company” podcast, Schmidt said large companies could see workforce reductions of around 20% as AI automates administrative and management tasks. His remarks were widely reported on October 21-22, 2026. The math behind the meetings Schmidt put the idea in concrete terms with a hypothetical. Picture a firm with 10,000 employees. Under his framing, that company could potentially eliminate 2,000 positions. The roles he expects to go first are what he called “glue people.” These are employees whose work centers on planning and coordinating data between teams. He grounded the point in his own career. At Google, Schmidt said he spent up to 12 hours a day in meetings. He described this burden as a “coordination tax.” Every large organization pays it in time, attention and salaries. Schmidt’s pitch is that AI can lower the rate. Not every role is on the chopping block Schmidt did n...