IBM To Stop Hiring For Jobs That AI Could Replace, Says CEO Arvind Krishna

In an interview, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said that the company hirings in back-office functions — such as human resources — will be suspended or slowed

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the company continues to hire for software development and customer-facing roles.

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International Business Machines (IBM) is expected to pause hirings for roles that it thinks could be replaced by artificial intelligence in the coming years. It means that roughly 7,800 jobs would be replaced by AI, the company said. In an interview with Bloomberg, IBM Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arvind Krishna said that the company hirings in back-office functions — such as human resources — will be suspended or slowed. 

Krishna said, "I could easily see 30 per cent of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period."  These non-customer-facing roles amount to roughly 26,000 workers, he said. The report also said that an IBM spokesperson clarified that this would mean roughly 7,800 jobs lost. However, part of any reduction would include not replacing roles vacated by attrition. 

The public's fascination with artificial intelligence (AI) tools and their capabilities to automate customer service, generate code, and write text has raised concerns about their potential impact on the job market. In response to this rapidly advancing technology, Krishna's proposal stands out as one of the most significant workforce strategies to date, the report noted. 

IBM CEO said that more mundane tasks such as providing employment verification letters or moving employees between departments will likely be fully automated. Some HR functions, such as evaluating workforce composition and productivity, probably won’t be replaced over the next decade. 

The IT giant currently employs about 260,000 workers. The company announced job cuts earlier this year, which may amount to about 5,000 workers losing jobs. 

Krishna told Bloomberg that the company continues to hire for software development and customer-facing roles. IBM has added to its workforce overall, bringing on about 7,000 people in the first quarter.

Krishna previously expressed his belief that the US could steer clear of a recession until late 2022. However, now he said that the possibility of a "shallow and short" recession towards the end of this year.