American software giant for enterprises Salesforce announces that it has reduced the number of positions in the customer support department by 4,000, as artificial intelligence has decreased the need for personnel.
Marc Benioff, the company’s CEO, revealed the layoffs in an interview for The Logan Bartlett Show podcast.
"We reduced from 9,000 people to about 5,000 because we need fewer employees," he said, referring to the impact of AI on Salesforce operations, as reported by CNBC.
The San Francisco-based company is at the forefront of the AI revolution and has developed a system called "Agentforce," a network of robots for customer service.
"Due to the benefits and efficiency of Agentforce, we have observed a decrease in the number of requests handled, and there is no longer a need to actively replace support engineer positions," Salesforce conveyed in a statement to NBC Bay Area.
The layoffs come after Benioff announced in the summer that AI already performs up to 50% of the work carried out at Salesforce.
Human resources consultant Laurie Ruettimann stated that AI is affecting jobs in multiple industries.
"There have been firings across America directly attributed to AI. Anyone who wants to keep their job or is looking for a new one needs to learn new skills," Ruettimann said.
"If your network had found you a job, it would have already done so. It's up to you to expand your horizons and meet new people," she continued.
Analyst Ed Zitron argues that technology firms blame AI after overhiring during the pandemic and are now trying to attract investors by posing as more efficient organizations.
"It's just a growth-at-all-costs mentality. The only thing that matters is growth, even if it ruins lives, weakens the company, and provides an inferior product," he said.
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