American multinational technology company IBM has announced plans to slash jobs in its marketing and communications division as it upskills employees on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This disclosure was made by the company’s Chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek in a seven-minute meeting with staffers in the unit.
Recall that in December last year, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna disclosed that the company was massively upskilling all of its employees on Artificial intelligence (AI) after it announced a plan in August to replace nearly 8,000 jobs with AI. IBM said on its earnings call in January of last year, it was cutting 3,900 positions.
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“In Q4 earnings earlier this year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing charge that would represent a very low single-digit percentage of IBM’s global workforce, and we expect to exit 2024 at roughly the same level of employment as we entered with,” IBM told CNBC in a statement
In recent times, IBM has opened up dozens of positions for AI-based roles to help develop and maintain these systems. The decision highlights the increasing reliance on automation and artificial intelligence across various sectors and the potential impact on the workforce.
According to a global study conducted by IBM Institute of Business Value, surveyed executives estimate that implementing AI and automation will require 40% of their workforce to reskill over the next three years, mostly those in entry-level positions. This further reinforces that generative AI is creating a demand for new roles and skills.
In line with this, IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna had previously talked about how important it is to train employees in AI technology. But even with these efforts, the company announced during its last earnings call that it will have to let go of some of its workers in a move to balance its workforce.
The announcement comes at a time when generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT have stirred anxiety about the future of human jobs. In March, investment Bank Goldman Sachs released a report estimating that generative AI may “expose” 300 million jobs to automation, which means those roles might be reduced or replaced by AI systems.
IBM’s decision to cut jobs comes at a time when many other tech companies are doing the same thing. Around 204 tech firms have cut close to 50,000 jobs since the start of the year, according to website Layoffs. fyi.
The prospect of mass automation looms large, as the report suggests that 18% of all work around the globe could potentially be replaced by machines, with the most advanced economies being hit the hardest. It is worth noting that AI is projected to add a staggering $16 trillion to the global economy by 2030.