CEM REPORT, PRODUCTIVITY | IBM has revealed plans to replace non-customer-facing roles with artificial intelligence.
The decision if followed through will see the international computing giant cut approximately 26,000 jobs.
According to Bloomberg, CEO Arvind Krishna, noted that the cuts will primarily impact non-customer-facing roles, such as human resources,
“I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period.”
Although IBM has said people currently in these roles won’t be fired any roles vacated by attrition wouldn’t be filled.
This implies that while roughly 7,800 jobs hang in the balance, the company will be halting the recruitment of staff to fill non-customer-facing roles.
IBM recently announced job cuts earlier this year, amounting to 1.5% of its workforce. The company employs about 260,000 people, according to Bloomberg.
Business Insider reports that an IBM spokesperson said; “There is no blanket hiring ‘pause’ in place. IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we’re being very selective when filling jobs that don’t directly touch our clients or technology. We are actively hiring for thousands of positions right now.”
With artificial intelligence (AI) expanding in capabilities, companies are considering its adoption to save costs.
With recent layoffs by several tech and sales companies, the adoption of AI will lead to more cuts as these companies believe it will save revenue and increase productivity.
However, for the labour market, AI adoption will increase the unemployment rate and create a problem for governments to solve.
