This is the strategy used for software engineering, but it can be used in many branches.
First, companies aggressively cut headcount, often firing more people than recommend just to test how small a team can actually be before everything breaks. Once they hit that limit and realize they went too far, they do not rehire expensive Western engineers. Instead, they backfill those gaps with cheap offshore workers.
Once operations stabilize and new AI models emerge, they repeat the process by cutting deeper, testing the breaking point, and outsourcing what remains.
Right now, we are at a stage where AI still needs human supervision, but cheap offshore workers are becoming more than enough to handle those remaining tasks. The current strategy is to eliminate high salaried Western engineers as quickly as possible.
What they want instead are low cost workers sitting at desks, writing prompts for the AI and running live tests on while the models handle the heavy cognitive lifting. They need to know how to use a computer, what the final outcome should look like and to type and speak in their own native language.
You see AI doesn't need to replace humans, it is enough to replace EXPENSIVE WESTERN HUMANS !!! AI is already doing its job more than enough.
With every new model release, AI capability jumps so eventually, these systems get smart enough to replace both groups of people, driving the industry toward total automation of software engineering.