IBM mass layoff signals shift in employee restructuring policy. | Image:
IBM
IBM Layoffs: After Microsoft, and Google, tech giant IBM followed suit by reportedly laying off close to 8,000 individuals, the verticals significantly affected being Human Resources (HR) department.
The mass lay of in tech firms comes to replace personnel with artificial intelligence (AI), specifically in its day-to-day back office functions.
As part of an effort to automate operations, the New-York headquartered tech major replaced 200 HR roles with AI agents capable of handling repetitive mundane tasks like organizing HR data, and handling employee concerns. These data-driven replacements don’t require frequent human supervision and are expected to reduce costs and bolster efficiency.
The decision is indicative of a significant shift in how multi-national companies plan on managing its workforce.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has been vocal about the company’s growing reliance on automation.
In a recent interview, he mentioned that AI is being adopted “very aggressively” to streamline enterprise workflows. Despite the cuts in some areas, he emphasized that IBM’s overall headcount has actually rose as savings from automation are being redirected into other functions like software development, marketing, and sales.
“While we have done a huge amount of work inside IBM on leveraging AI and automation on certain enterprise workflows, our total employment has actually gone up,” he said
He further noted that IBM isn’t simply cutting jobs to reduce numbers, it is modernizing. However, its suspected that IBM would need to hire more personnel than it fired just to handle the AI tools in place.
The company attempts to restructure its workforce to focus on roles that demand human intelligence, such as creativity, strategic thinking, and people management. Administrative and process-driven roles, by contrast, are increasingly vulnerable to automation.
Interestingly, while undergoing internal restructuring, IBM is also promoting its AI capabilities to external clients. At its annual Think conference held this month, the company unveiled a suite of new tools to help businesses build and deploy their own AI agents, compatible with platforms from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Amazon.
IBM’s shift mirrors a broader industry trend. It is definitely not a one of case as several firms around the globe are experimenting with AI-powered tools to automate tasks and reduce costs.
Language learning firm Duolingo also announced that it is phasing out human contractors in favour of AI.
Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke has also introduced fresh policies via an internal memo requiring teams to justify new hires by demonstrating that AI cannot do the job instead.