According to CEO Arvind Krishna, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM.N) anticipates pausing employment hiring as around 7,800 positions may be eliminated by artificial intelligence (AI) in the upcoming years.
According to Krishna, hiring in back-office areas like human resources will stop or slow down. He also predicted that in five years, automation and AI might replace 30% of non-customer-facing roles.
IBM To Pause Hiring Fearing ChatGPT
IBM CEO, Arvind Krishna, announced recently that the company expects to pause hiring for certain positions, as approximately 7,800 jobs could be taken over by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming years.
The company will specifically suspend or slow hiring for back-office roles, such as human resources, as 30% of non-customer-facing positions may be replaced by AI and automation within five years. This decision is in line with a possible reduction in roles through attrition rather than replacement.
These statements come at a time when AI has gained popularity worldwide, following the launch of the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI’s viral chatbot, ChatGPT, in November 2022.
We had recently reported that IBM employees have also been subjected to a massive layoff, as a part of some asset divestments.
IBM Fires 3900 Employees For Asset Divestments
As a result of some asset divestments, IBM fired 3,900 employees.
Since the company missed its annual cash target, the excitement surrounding exceeding revenue projections in the fourth quarter has been dampened.
James Kavanaugh, the chief financial officer, stated that the business was still committed to hiring for client-facing R&D.
In a formal statement, IBM claimed that the layoffs were connected to the separation of its Kyndryl business and a section of Watson Health, its AI division.
According to IBM Corp., the layoffs will result in a $300 million charge between January and March, and reportedly, its shares also dropped 2% in extended trading.
According to a media report, approximately 200,000 IT employees have been let go since November of last year, including some record numbers at firms like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon.
