Signs of layoffs because of AI and how to prepare for it in Big 4? 😱

I am an entry level analyst in at Deloitte. Just wondering if these are some signs of a practice not doing great + potential layoffs in a few months/year.

1. Utilization: ~45% last quarter. They originally said that it was a slow start to the year with low CapEx by companies but we still don't look good this quarter now.

There was a small call last night between a few people in this project level meeting and the senior management straight up said "Their is no demand and people are still on bench. We need to reallocate some headcount"

1. Headcount growth - Last 1.5 years ago, every month we had 10-15 people join our practice, This has literally gone down to 1-2 hires to replace people who have left.

2. Resignations: 6-7 people are leaving every month in my practice, which is quite harsh. Someone told me that everyone they used to work with when they joined have already left.

3. AI-pocalypse - I feel most companies think that they can now do AI inhouse and niche projects but higher costs because of MS/PhD folks working on it is something they dont want to go for anymore.

If a layoff is incoming, what would be the best ways to prep?

I see two options:

1. Getting on a boring sad project but long term.
2. Do nothing: I am literally the cheapest resource in the company so they would ideally layoff senior folks first, right??