International Business Machines Corp (IBM) chief executive officer Arvind Krishna said that the company expects to pause hiring for roles it thinks could be replaced with artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming years.
Hiring in back-office functions — such as human resources — would be suspended or slowed, Krishna said in an interview.
These noncustomer-facing roles amount to about 26,000 workers, he said.
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“I could easily see 30 percent of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period,” he said.
That would mean about 7,800 jobs lost.
Part of any reduction would include not replacing roles vacated by attrition, an IBM spokesperson said.
As AI tools have captured the public imagination for their ability to automate customer service, write text and generate code, many observers have worried about their potential to disrupt the labor market.
More mundane tasks such as providing employment verification letters or moving employees between departments would likely be fully automated, Krishna said.
Some human resources functions, such as evaluating workforce composition and productivity, probably would not be replaced over the next decade, he added.
IBM employs about 260,000 workers and continues to hire for software development and customer-facing roles.
Finding talent is easier today than a year ago, Krishna said.
The company announced job cuts earlier this year, which might amount to about 5,000 workers once completed.
Still, Krishna said that IBM has added to its workforce overall, bringing on about 7,000 people in the first quarter.
Armonk, New York-based IBM topped profit estimates in its most recent quarter due to expense management, including the earlier-announced job cuts.
New productivity and efficiency steps are expected to drive US$2 billion a year in savings by the end of next year, chief financial officer James Kavanaugh said on the day of earnings.
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